Former Uvalde faculty police officer Adrian Gonzales says he has no regrets about his actions almost 4 years in the past when he was the primary officer to reply to the mass taking pictures at Robb Elementary College.
In his first interview since being acquitted Wednesday evening all counts, Gonzales mentioned he stood by his actions and argued he was scapegoated by prosecutors on the lookout for somebody guilty.
“You possibly can sit right here and inform me all you need about what I’d have finished, or what you’ll have finished. Till you are in that blend, you’ll be able to’t inform me something,” Gonzales instructed ABC Information’ John Quiñones.
Former Uvalde faculty police officer Adrian Gonzales spoke with ABC Information’ John Quiñones after his acquittal.
ABC Information
The police response to the mass taking pictures has been the topic of intense criticism within the years since 19 college students and two academics had been killed on the faculty.
Almost 400 legislation enforcement officers responded that day, however it took 77 minutes for officers to mount a counterassault. Gonzales was charged with 29 counts of kid endangerment — one in every of two officers to face felony expenses for his function within the police response. After a two-week trial, a jury acquitted Gonzales on all counts after seven hours of deliberations, prompting frustration from some of the families of victims who attended the trial.
Evadulia Orta, proper, rubs the shoulder of Javier Cazares as they react to the announcement that the jury discovered former Uvalde faculty district police officer Adrian Gonzales not responsible on the Nueces County Courthouse, Jan. 21, 2026, in Corpus Christi, Texas.
Sam Owens/The San Antonio Specific-Information through AP
“We had a bit hope, however it wasn’t sufficient,” mentioned Jacinto Cazares, whose 9-year-old daughter Jackie died within the taking pictures. “Once more, we’re failed. I do not even know what to say.”
Gonzales mentioned he was grateful to the jury for the decision however mentioned he understands that the households had been annoyed with the result.
“No matter I say to them, I do know it is not going to ease their ache, however … they’re all the time in my prayers, you recognize, to allow them to begin therapeutic,” he mentioned.
Moms of Robb Elementary College taking pictures victims, from left, Sandra Torres, Veronica Luevanos, and Felicha Martinez cry collectively outdoors the Nueces County Courthouse, Jan. 21, 2026, in Corpus Christi, Texas, after former Uvalde faculty district police officer Adrian Gonzales was discovered not responsible.
Sam Owens/The San Antonio Specific-Information through AP
Talking with ABC Information, Gonzales walked by way of his actions the day of the taking pictures and mentioned he did all he might to cease the violence. After arriving on the faculty within the late morning of the final day of faculty, Gonzales mentioned he didn’t see the shooter however was one of many first officers to attempt to enter Robb Elementary. Gonzales mentioned he solely retreated from inside the college constructing as a result of he obtained a direct order from his commanding officer.
“I did the most effective that I might with the knowledge I used to be getting,” he mentioned, including, “I do not remorse it, as a result of I took an order from my chief at the moment.”
Gonzales, 52, first started working as a faculty police officer after a decade with the Uvalde Police Division. He beforehand spent 18 years as a trainer, coached an area soccer crew in Uvalde, and refereed youth sports activities video games. Since his indictment, Gonzales mentioned he seems like a pariah in Uvalde and mentioned he needed to relocate together with his household.
“Working with youngsters was a ardour for me,” he mentioned. “Once I obtained the chance to return again to the college as an officer, I took it and, sadly, it is not the identical.”
Gonzales mentioned he believes all of his actions that day had been justified and that he was selectively prosecuted.
“When the movies began enjoying, I spotted that they handpicked me,” he mentioned. “They’d an excuse for everyone else. They did this, they did that, you recognize, however I had to do that, I had to do this.”
Former Uvalde faculty police officer Adrian Gonzales (heart) is seen together with his attorneys Jason Goss (left) and Nico LaHood (proper) throughout an ABC Information interview after his acquittal.
ABC Information
His lawyer, Nico LaHood, argued that prosecutors charged him as a result of they thought he could be “a simple goal.”
“He was the bottom man on the totem pole. He was the primary on the scene,” LaHood mentioned. “If you actually have a look at the state of affairs within the totality of the circumstances, you see that Adrian went to the hazard initially, after which additional went to the hazard when he was one of many first 5 officers that went to that constructing.”
One other Gonzales lawyer, Jason Goss, argued that prosecutors did the victims of the taking pictures a disservice by charging Gonzales, offering them false hope that his conviction would possibly ship accountability.
“The injustice was in beginning by telling the household that Adrian was accountable as a result of he was not,” he mentioned. “The jury has decided that he was not, and so they got here to the right verdict, however in fact, the household would not really feel right, however that is as a result of they had been instructed one thing completely different.”
Gonzales mentioned he fears his trial and the will to carry particular person cops accountable might need pulled focus away from points which may make a distinction sooner or later, like higher coaching, response protocols or funding for varsity cops.
(FILES) Crosses set as much as honor those that misplaced their lives in the course of the Robb Elementary College taking pictures are seen in Uvalde, Texas on November 8, 2022. A US jury on January 21, 2026 acquitted the previous faculty police officer for his response to a 2022 mass taking pictures at a Texas elementary faculty which killed 21 folks, together with 19 youngsters — the the frustration of the victims’s households.
Mark Felix/AFP through Getty Photographs
“It’ll occur once more. You understand, we do not know when, we do not know the place, however it should occur once more,” he mentioned. “Simply need this tragedy to make one other faculty higher, one other neighborhood higher, so no one has to undergo this.”
Uvalde District Lawyer Christina Mitchell declined to remark and has not defined her rationale for charging Gonzales and former Uvalde Police Chief Pete Arredondo.
Gonzales mentioned he speaks with Arredondo day by day and believes he’s harmless. Arredondo was charged with 10 counts of kid endangerment for his response to the taking pictures, however his case has been delayed by a pending civil lawsuit.
“That is the primary battle, and we will win the second,” Gonzales mentioned.
An lawyer for Arredondo instructed ABC Information mentioned he’s wanting ahead to the chance for “full and full exoneration.”
ABC Information’ Juan Renteria contributed to this report.
