Uvalde School Shooting Trial: Judge threatens mistrial after courtroom outburst

CORPUS CHRISTI, Texas - Former Uvalde CISD officer Adrian Gonzales is in court again Tuesday morning as emotional testimony continues from yesterday. 

Gonzales is being 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. 

Testimony began at 9 a.m. on Tuesday.

Tuesday's testimony and evidence

The Latest:

The prosecution played an hour-long video for the jury of Gonzales recounting getting to Robb Elementary School and encountering a staffer in the parking lot, who said there was a shooter headed towards the building.

Gonzales explained why he initially didn't make entry to the school.

"I never went inside the school until I got coverage over here and then we made entry," said Gonzales.

The investigator then asked after Gonzales entered if he or any of the individuals alongside him suggest to go down the hallway and find the shooter. 

"It did cross my mind but we just never…nobody...we were just covering each other. That's basically what we were doing," said Gonzales.

Gonzales went on to say he didn't hear anyone crying for help inside the classrooms and he never fired his weapon because he did not see the gunman. He recalls just hearing echoing gunshots and being unsure where they were coming from.

The list of witnesses on Tuesday

• Arnulfo Reyes - Uvalde CISD 4th grade teacher (continues his testimony) 

• Elsa Avila - Uvalde CISD 4th grade teacher
• Erin Robin - Uvalde CISD 2nd grade teacher
• Sgt. Joe Vasquez - Zavala County sheriff's deputy who was off duty at the time of the shooting. His daughter was in attendance at Robb Elementary that day. She was a 2nd grader.

Wounded 4th grade teacher comforted by her students

4th grade teacher Elsa Avila was taking pictures of her students’ science projects when her class noticed students running and screaming into other rooms. She looked into the hallway and heard people yelling to get inside.

"We kept hearing shots. They were just going boom boom, boom, boom just like that, one after another, and then it would stop and then go," said Avila.

Her class immediately went into lockdown, then Avila felt a sharp pain.

"I yelled Oh no, I’m shot, and I fell to the floor. So yes, I knew I was shot, and I put my hand on my side and I saw blood," said Avila.

She crawled on the floor looking for her phone to call for help as her 4th grade students tried to comfort her.

"They were staying quiet, they were hugging each other, they were helping each other stay quiet. Some were tapping me, telling me, 'Miss…miss… we love you, we love you. You’re going to be okay.'"

Off-duty officer who rushed to the scene

What they're saying:

Off-duty Zavala County Sheriff’s Deputy Sgt. Joe Vazquez, who testified this morning, rushed to the scene when he heard on the radio that there was an active shooter at the school. He had just gotten out of the gym when he heard the call. 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. 

All while not knowing what class his daughter was in. 

 "You didn't know the condition or situation that your daughter may be in?" asked special prosecutor, Bill Turner. 

Vazquez responded with a no.

"And as you're standing in that line, what's going on in your mind?" asked the prosecutor.

An emotional Vazquez answered, "I don’t know if she’s in there," before tearing up on the stand.

Vazquez’s daughter was unharmed. 

Just as Vasquez was getting off the witness stand, there was a loud outburst from the galley.

Outburst in the court

Just before the court's lunch recess, after Sgt. Vasquez's testimony, a woman from the gallery made an outburst.

"You know who went into the fatal funnel? My sister went into the fatal funnel. Did she need a key? Why do you need a key? Wasn't it locked? Y'all are saying she didn't lock the door, she went into the fatal funnel," the woman yelled as bailiffs escorted her out.

Then, the judge 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."

Surviving teacher's testimony

The backstory:

On Monday, one teacher's recollection of that day was flagged for discrepancies before the judge ultimately decided to strike her comments from the record. Soon after, emotional testimony was given by a teacher injured in the shooting at Robb Elementary School in Uvalde.

Arnulfo Reyes, continued his testimony on Tuesday. He was a teacher working inside the school when the gunman walked into his classroom and opened fire. Reyes survived by playing dead but none of his students survived. 

Reyes described gruesome testimony describing that the shooter shot at him, striking him in the arm. That gunman then came back into his classroom and taunted Reyes, before shooting him again in the back.

No questions were asked about Adrian Gonzales during the teacher’s testimony, but the defense did point out that Reyes did not get a notification from the school's emergency alert system or hear an announcement from their intercom system. Reyes is the 19th witness to testify in the trial.

Images from inside Robb Elementary School

Dig deeper:

Last week, powerful new 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. 

Witness testimony was heard from former teachers who were sheltered in classrooms, parents of children who lost their lives and district employees who were on the scene during the mass shooting at Robb Elementary School. 

Forensic experts and federal agents also weighed in on video from the shooting and evidence examined at the scene. Texas Ranger and bullet trajectory analyst Kevin Wright testified that many of the bullets traveled from the outside of the building, into classrooms and to adjoining rooms.

Testimony from victim's parent

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.

Big picture view:

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

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