The former Uvalde school officer Adrian Gonzalez, who was accused of slow playing the response in the 2022 Uvalde school shooting, has been found not guilty on all charges he faced.
Gonzalez was acquitted of 29 counts of child endangerment, accused of not engaging with the gunman as the shooting was happening inside the classroom. The verdict came after seven hours of jury deliberations in Corpus Christi.
After the verdict, Gonzalez spoke briefly outside the courthouse.
"I want to start by thanking God for this...my family, my wife...thank you for the jury for considering all the evidence and making that verdict," said Gonzalez.
Testimony showed roughly 77 minutes passed between the time authorities arrived, to the time the tactical team entered the classroom to kill the shooter. Law enforcement experts testified that Gonzalez was following his training.
Gonzalez's attorney Nico LaHood said they acknowledge the grief of the victim's families, but there were "gaps in the evidence," according to the jury.
In total, 19 students and two teachers were killed at Robb Elementary School that day.
It is the first of multiple trials expected related to the shooting.
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