Jury selected from hundreds in trial testing accountability after Uvalde shooting

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A jury has been selected in the trial of a former Uvalde school district police officer charged in connection with the law enforcement response to the 2022 Robb Elementary School shooting.

On Monday, more than 400 potential jurors were questioned about their knowledge of the failed police response to one of the worst school shootings in U.S. history. From that pool, 12 jurors and four alternates were selected for the trial. Opening statements are set for Tuesday morning.

The trial was moved from Uvalde to Nueces County, where it is being held in Corpus Christi, after a judge determined it would be difficult to seat an impartial jury in Uvalde.

During jury selection, presiding Judge Sid Harle acknowledged that, given the case’s national attention, there was likely no one in the pool who had not already heard about the shooting.

Former Uvalde CISD officer Adrian Gonzales faces 29 felony counts of abandoning or endangering a child for his alleged inaction during the response. Prosecutors say Gonzales failed to “engage, distract, or delay the shooter” and did not follow his active-shooter training to confront the gunman. Gonzales has pleaded not guilty to all charges.

Several victims’ family members are expected to attend the trial in Corpus Christi, including Manuel Rizo, the uncle of 9-year-old fourth grader Jackie Cazares, who was killed in the attack.

“We’re going to hope that the prosecution – the district attorney and the people who owe this to their constituents – do their job, and do a damn good job of it,” Rizo told TPR.

The Cazares family is one of 21 families who sued the City of Uvalde over the shooting, which killed 19 students and two teachers.

Hundreds of law enforcement officers from multiple agencies responded to the scene, but federal and state reviews later described the response as a failure, citing a delay of more than an hour before officers confronted the gunman.

“This police officer, in essence, is being charged with not taking action when prosecutors say he had a duty to act,” said Kirk Burkhalter, a professor of law at New York Law School.

“We’ve seen police officers charged for not doing their duty to the fullest extent. We’ve seen them be charged with standing by while another officer acted,” Burkhalter said. “This is very different. I can’t recall another case where a police officer was charged with simply not doing their job when it comes to a member of the public.”

That context is especially notable following the Parkland school shooting, where a former Broward County sheriff’s deputy was later acquitted of criminal charges tied to his failure to confront the gunman during the 2018 attack at Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School.

Burkhalter added that, in the public’s mind, the case is also about bravery.

“Bravery isn’t the absence of fear,” he said. “It’s being afraid and still taking action.”

Prosecutors have issued 75 subpoenas, underscoring the scope of testimony expected during the trial.

Rizo said he hopes the proceedings will bring accountability and closure.

“We want them to highlight every single opportunity Adrian had to protect the children and teachers – and the survivors,” he said.

Former Uvalde CISD police chief Pete Arredondo is the only other officer to be indicted. He is awaiting a separate trial.