CORPUS CHRISTI, Texas – The trial begins Monday for a former police officer involved in the 2022 Uvalde school shooting, where it is alleged he failed to protect children as authorities delayed confronting the shooter for over an hour.

Adrian Gonzales, who previously served as an officer for Uvalde schools, is facing 29 charges related to child abandonment or endangerment. This case is notable for its rare prosecution of a law enforcement officer in connection with not preventing a crime or safeguarding lives.

In a tragic event that ranks among the deadliest school shootings in U.S. history, a teenage gunman took the lives of 19 students and two teachers at Robb Elementary School.

With nearly 400 officers from various state, local, and federal agencies responding, it took 77 minutes from their arrival to the point when a tactical unit finally entered the classroom and neutralized the shooter, identified as Salvador Ramos. Subsequent investigations revealed Ramos had an obsession with violence and sought notoriety in the months preceding the incident.

Both Gonzales and Pete Arredondo, the former Uvalde schools police chief, were among the initial responders, and they are the only officers facing criminal charges due to the delayed response. A trial date for Arredondo has yet to be determined.

The charges against Gonzales carry up to two years in prison if he is convicted. The trial, which is expected to last up to three weeks, begins with jury selection.

Gonzales pleaded not guilty. His attorney has said Gonzales tried to save children that day.

Police and Texas Gov. Greg Abbott initially said swift law enforcement action killed Ramos and saved lives. But that version quickly unraveled as families described begging police to go into the building and 911 calls emerged from students pleading for help.

The indictment alleges Gonzales placed children in “imminent danger” of injury or death by failing to engage, distract or delay the shooter and by not following his active shooter training. The allegations also say he did not advance toward the gunfire despite hearing shots and being told where the shooter was.

State and federal reviews of the shooting cited cascading problems in law enforcement training, communication, leadership and technology, and questioned why officers waited so long.

According to the state review, Gonzales told investigators that once police realized there were students still sitting in other classrooms, he helped evacuate them.

Some family members of the victims have said more officers should be indicted.

“They all waited and allowed children and teachers to die,” said Velma Lisa Duran, whose sister Irma Garcia was one of the two teachers who were killed.

Prosecutors will likely face a high bar to win a conviction. Juries are often reluctant to convict law enforcement officers for inaction, as seen after the Parkland, Florida, school massacre in 2018.

Sheriff’s deputy Scot Peterson was charged with failing to confront the shooter in that attack. It was the first such prosecution in the U.S. for an on-campus shooting, and Peterson was acquitted by a jury in 2023.

At the request of Gonzales’ attorneys, the trial was moved about 200 miles (320 kilometers) southeast to Corpus Christi. They argued Gonzales could not receive a fair trial in Uvalde, and prosecutors did not object.

Uvalde, a town of 15,000, still has several prominent reminders of the shooting. Robb Elementary is closed but still stands, and a memorial of 21 crosses and flower sits near the school sign. Another memorial sits at the downtown plaza fountain, and murals depicting several victims can still be seen on the walls of several buildings.

Jesse Rizo, whose 9-year-old niece Jackie was one of the students killed, said even with three-hour drive to Corpus Christi, the family would like to have someone attend the trial every day.

“It’s important that the jury see that Jackie had a big, strong family,” Rizo said.

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Associated Press writers Jim Vertuno in Austin, Texas, and Juan A. Lozano in Houston contributed to this report.