"Jurors deliberated for more than seven hours before finding Adrian Gonzales, 52, not guilty in the first trial over the hesitant law enforcement response to the 2022 attack, in which a teenage gunman killed 19 fourth-graders and two teachers. Had he been convicted, he faced up two years in prison on more than two dozen charges of child abandonment and endangerment."
"Several family members of the victims sat in silence in the courtroom, some crying or wiping away tears. "Faith is fractured, but you never lose faith," said Jesse Rizo, whose 9-year-old niece Jackie Cazares was killed. He said he was frustrated by the verdict and hopes the state will press ahead with the trial of former Uvalde schools Police Chief Pete Arredondo, the only other officer who has been charged over the police response."
A former Uvalde schools police officer, Adrian Gonzales, was acquitted of charges that he failed to confront the gunman at Robb Elementary during the first minutes of the 2022 attack. Jurors deliberated more than seven hours before finding him not guilty on more than two dozen counts of child abandonment and endangerment; a conviction could have brought up to two years in prison. Gonzales hugged his lawyers and thanked the jury after the verdict. Several victims' family members reacted with silence and tears, and at least one relative urged prosecutors to continue pursuing charges against former Uvalde schools Police Chief Pete Arredondo.
Read at Boston.com
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