Uvalde school shooting trial: Prosecution, defense rest during 3rd week of testimony

CORPUS CHRISTI, Texas - Entering the third week of trial, former Uvalde CISD officer Adrian Gonzales appeared in court again on Tuesday as witness testimony continued.

Gonzales is charged with 29 counts of abandoning or endangering a child. Prosecutors say he didn't act quickly enough during the 2022 massacre, where 19 students and two teachers were killed.

Prosecution, defense rest

The latest:

The state rested its case on Tuesday morning.

Prosecutors took nine days and three dozen witnesses to try and prove to the jury that Adrian Gonzales failed to follow his training at Robb Elementary School, endangering the 19 students who died and an additional 10 surviving students.

The defense now has the case and has already called two witnesses – the secretary from a nearby funeral home and Willie Cantu, a retired officer from San Antonio.

In much of his testimony, he defended Gonzales’ actions and described the factors that would have gone into his decisions as one of the first people on the scene.

"I was not there and experiencing everything that made the experience. I think it would be an unfair assessment on my part, with me myself personally, in my training, my experience, I would probably absorb information a lot different and quicker," he said. "I would like to think so. Or not. I don't know. It depends on what they were seeing at the time. I think that's what I mean about the context missing. But what he was observing in other places. That’s just to be fair, sir," he said.

Gonzales’ defense team is trying to argue he is being unfairly blamed for a broader law enforcement failure that day.

The defense also rested its own case on Tuesday.

What's next:

The judge has adjourned the trial until 9 a.m. Wednesday, Jan. 21.

Previous testimony

The backstory:

On Friday, the trial continued with the testimony of a Texas Ranger. That ranger remained on the stand for around half an hour, answering questions about what he saw at the scene after the shooting.

The next witness was a Texas DPS Homeland Security officer, who was working as a Texas Ranger at the time. He told the court he was called to the scene after the shooting as a photographer, and he documented the evidence and spoke with representatives at a funeral home while working on the case. 

The second witness remained on the stand for questioning until the court adjourned for the day. 

Thursday, Jan. 15, trial proceedings

Proceedings began per usual on Thursday, but court was adjourned at 2 p.m. due to an emergency situation involving a family member of the jurors. 

Prior to the juror leaving, only one witness gave testimony in the morning's proceedings. A retired Uvalde Police Department sergeant took the stand at the start of the day, and remained for questioning until the court broke for lunch around 1 p.m.

During his testimony, the former officer described the response that day, answering questions about how and when officers arrived at the scene and what he saw while he was there. He also reviewed his bodycam footage from that day.

The former sergeant was still on the stand when the court went to lunch, but was unable to continue due to the unexpected recess for the rest of the day. 

Wednesday, Jan. 14, trial proceedings

Employee testifies warning Gonzales of shooter

On Wednesday, Jan. 14, the court heard from multiple witnesses, including a former Uvalde CISD employee who first told Gonzales to confront the gunman. Melodye Flores testified about the moments leading up to the deadly shooting at Robb Elementary. 

Flores, a teacher’s aide at the school, told the court she learned about the shooter over her school radio hearing the gunman had jumped the fence and was firing a weapon. Her first thought was to run outside to protect the children at recess.

The defense questioned Flores’ perception of the day. They pointed out that her description of the white vehicle did not match Gonzales. They have maintained the entire trial that Gonzales did the best he could with what he knew at the time.

Doctor testifies treating students following incident

Dr. Cherie Hauptmeier testified on Wednesday, as well. She joined nearly 10 other doctors in treating around 15 patients. She described the medical injuries of each victim from the day. One of those injured was a 10-year-old 4th grader.

Wednesday was also the first day on which Gonzales appeared to become emotional during the trial. In previous days of proceedings, a stoic Gonzales rarely altered his facial expressions, remaining calm and even-tempered as witnesses delivered their testimonies. 

During the medical examiner's time at the witness stand, however, Gonzales appeared to wipe away tears as the expert recalled the wounds sustained by some of the children that day. 

The officer who trained Gonzales gives testimony

The prosecution argues Gonzales ignored his active shooter training that day.

Retired Dallas police officer, Michael Witzgall, helped train Gonzales on active shooter response. He testified about the active shooter response, saying the main goal is to keep the gunman moving away from soft targets, which are places like schools, churches or hospitals.

The defense argued if Gonzales went in alone, it would have put Gonzales and other officers at a higher risk of being killed.

Tuesday, Jan. 13, trial proceedings

Robb elementary’s 4th grade teacher, Elsa Avila, testified on Tuesday, Jan. 13, recounting when her class noticed students running and screaming to getting classrooms before recognizing her gunshot wound upon the lockdown. When she noticed the wound, she says her fourth grade students tried to comfort her while staying quiet and hugging each other.

Off-duty officer testimony

On Jan. 13, testimony was also given by off-duty Zavala County Sheriff’s Deputy Sgt. Joe Vazquez. Vazquez rushed to the scene when he heard on the radio that there was an active shooter at the school. Vazquez’s daughter goes to that school so he sped to the school in his shorts, threw on his vest, grabbed his rifle and asked how he could help. Vazquez’s daughter was unharmed. 

Courtroom outburst

Just as Vasquez was getting off the witness stand, there was a loud outburst from the galley.  The sister of a victim made an emotional outburst in court, causing a disturbance in which she was escorted from the building. 

The judge then spoke to those in the courtroom, saying, "I want this case to go to verdict. Any further outbursts will just echo the attempt for another motion for mistrial. So please think about that. We're trying to get this case to the jury, and these are not helping and, soon enough, if it continues, I will have no choice but to grant a mistrial. So please think about that. OK, we're in recess until 1:30."

Monday, Jan. 12, trial proceedings

Teacher testifies being shot and playing dead to stay alive

Arnulfo Reyes was a teacher working inside classroom 111 when the gunman walked in and opened fire. Reyes survived by playing dead. None of his students survived. Reyes goes on to describe that the shooter shot at him, striking him in the arm.

Reyes said the gunman then went into a neighboring classroom and continued shooting.

That gunman then came back into his classroom and taunted Reyes, before shooting him again in the back.

During the first week of trial

Last week, powerful images of the destruction of Robb Elementary School were shown to the juror depicting the day of the May 2022 shooting.

Prosecutors presented dozens of photos of new evidence throughout the school, documenting the damage left behind. During the presentation of evidence, some photos that were presented, the judge warned the audience, were "gruesome" and "shocking."

The images depicted areas of the school struck by gunfire, such as classroom walls, windows with shattered glass and doorways with bullet fragments. Some of the photos also showed students' school work and belongings left behind.

The state argued the images show the intensity of the attack and says Gonzales ignored his active shooter training and failed to act. The defense says Gonzales is not responsible for the bullet destruction in the classroom, stating that he previously said he radioed for help and helped evacuate students.

Mother of victim gives emotional testimony

The mother of one shooting victim, 9-year-old Eliana Garcia, gave her recollection of the day of the shooting. Jennifer Garcia said Eliana had asked to come home early that day, but Jennifer told her to stay to participate in an end-of-year pizza party with her class. Eliana would have turned 10 on June 4, just a week after the shooting.

The backstory:

Nearly 400 officers responded to the school on May 24, 2022. More than 70 minutes passed before a tactical team entered, killing the shooter.

Read more:

• Jury selected for trial of Uvalde officer charged with child endangerment
• Uvalde school shooting trial closes for day; set to resume Thursday
• Uvalde school shooting trial: Judge denies mistrial motion after 'discrepancies' in teacher's testimony
• Uvalde shooting trial: Judge tosses teacher’s emotional testimony
• Uvalde shooting trial: Mother of victim testifies as prosecution of former police officer continues
• Surviving teacher testifies in 2nd week of Uvalde school shooting trial
• Uvalde School Shooting Trial: Judge threatens mistrial after courtroom outburst
• Uvalde shooting trial: Former officer appears to wipe tears as witness describes wounds
• Uvalde school shooting trial: Court recesses early Thursday for juror emergency
• Uvalde school shooting trial: Testimony continues as state prosecutes ex-police officer