Arnulfo Reyes testified on Monday in the trial of former Uvalde school police officer Adrian Gonzales that the shooter purposely splashed blood on his face.
“He tried to taunt me,” Reyes, a former fourth-grade teacher at Robb Elementary and the sole survivor from room 111, said. “He got some of my blood and splashed it on my face.”
Reyes gave his testimony as the Gonzales trial entered its second week. Gonzales, who has pleaded not guilty to 29 counts of child endangerment, was one of the first police officers on scene the day of the 2022 mass shooting at Robb Elementary in Uvalde, Texas, that killed 19 children and two teachers.
Nearly 400 police officers were on scene that day, and it took 77 minutes for them to confront and kill the shooter. The prosecution is arguing that Gonzales failed to follow his active shooter training, while his defense said Gonzales did the best he could with what he knew.
Reyes explained to the court that May 24, 2022, started like any other normal day. The students had a year-end awards ceremony in the morning, and afterward, they watched a movie in their classroom. That’s when Reyes heard loud noises, which he thought were books being dropped.
