Former Uvalde officer pleads not guilty to school shooting charges

July 25 (UPI) -- Former Uvalde, Texas, schools police officer Adrian Gonzales pleaded not guilty to 29 counts of abandoning and endangering a child in connection with the 2022 mass elementary school shooting there.

Gonzales was one of the first officers to arrive on the scene at Robb Elementary School, where a gunman killed 19 children and two teachers in one of worst mass school shootings in U.S. history.

Gonzales is accused of declining to engage the shooter after arriving on the scene and hearing gunshots. Many of the Uvalde residents have expressed anger about the slow police response, and residents accused police of waiting outside the school while victims lay dying inside.

"After hearing gunshots and after being advised of the general location of the shooter and having time to respond to the shooter, ... Adrian Gonzales failed to engage, distract or delay the shooter and failed to attempt to engage, distract or delay the shooter and failed to otherwise act in a way to impede the shooting until after the shooter entered Rooms 111 and 112 of Robb Elementary School and shot at a child or children in Rooms 111 and 112," said an indictment, according to CNN.

The plea comes after a Uvalde County grand jury reviewed the case five months ago. Former Uvalde schools police chief Peter Arredondo was indicted of abandoning/endangering a child.

Gonzales's attorney Nico LaHood dismissed the charges, saying his client did nothing wrong.

"We have not seen any evidence that would lead us to believe that Mr. Gonzales is guilty of these allegations," LaHood said, according to the San Antonio Express-News . "No Texas peace officer has been charged under this statute before, based off this situation that we're dealing with. It's uncharted territory."