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Two former Uvalde college cops are set to return to court docket and face costs following their alleged failure to behave in the course of the lethal 2022 Robb Elementary College Texas capturing.

At a Uvalde court docket listening to on Thursday, Decide Sid Harle rejected 52-year-old former Uvalde colleges police chief Pete Arredondo’s declare that he was improperly charged as his attorneys insist solely the shooter was chargeable for placing the victims at risk.

His co-defendant, former Uvalde colleges police officer Adrian Gonzales, 51, has not requested his costs be dropped.

Decide Harle set an October 20 2025 trial in movement for the pair.

Each males beforehand pleaded not responsible to a number of counts of kid endangerment and abandonment following accusations of a failed response in the course of the harrowing assault on Could 24 2022 – perpetrated by gunman Salvador Ramos, an ex-student, 18, who shot 19 youngsters and two lecturers useless.

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The assault on Robb Elementary was one of many deadliest college shootings in U.S. historical past and the legislation enforcement response – of virtually 400 federal, state, and native officers – has been broadly condemned as an enormous failure.

Brokers waited for over 70 minutes earlier than they selected to confront and kill the gunman in a fourth-grade classroom.

It’s uncommon for legislation enforcement to face prison trials over their actions throughout a college capturing however Arredondo and Gonzales are being prosecuted for his or her failure to mitigate the tragic deaths of the victims concerned.

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Arredondo beforehand claimed that he was scapegoated for the delayed police response. In response to the indictment, the 52-year-old allegedly didn’t comply with energetic shooter coaching protocol and made essential choices that actively slowed the police response whereas the gunman was “searching” down his victims.

As a substitute of confronting the gunman instantly, the indictment alleges that Arredondo brought on delays by ordering officers to evacuate a hallway and watch for a SWAT group to reach.

He reportedly prioritized evacuating college students from different areas of the constructing first and tried to barter with the college shooter whereas victims contained in the classroom had been wounded and dying.

A federal investigation into the 2022 capturing recognized Arredondo because the incident commander in cost whereas Gonzales was one of many first officers to reach on the scene – he was additionally accused of abandoning energetic shooter coaching protocol regardless of listening to gunshots as he stood in a hallway.

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Jesse Rizo, uncle to 9-year-old sufferer, Jacklyn Cazares was considered one of a number of relations of the victims to talk on the listening to.

“To me, it’s hurtful and painful to listen to Arredondo’s attorneys attempt to persuade the choose to get the fees dismissed,” Rizo stated.

Gonzales’s legal professional Nico LaHood stated they need to transfer the upcoming trial out of the small city the place the bloodbath occurred as a result of “Everyone is aware of all people,” in Uvalde.