Uvalde victim’s dad reacts to acquittal: ‘We had a little hope, but it wasn’t enough’
A memorial dedicated to the 19 children and two adults murdered on May 24,2022 during a mass shooting at Robb Elementary School is seen on January 05, 2026 in Uvalde, Texas. (Photo by Brandon Bell/Getty Images)
(UVALDE, Texas) — Javier Cazares, whose 9-year-old daughter Jackie was killed in the Uvalde, Texas, mass shooting, said he feels failed again after a jury on Wednesday night acquitted former school district police officer Adrian Gonzales on all 29 counts of child endangerment.
“We had a little hope, but it wasn’t enough,” Cazares said outside court. “Again, we are failed. I don’t even know what to say.”
Prosecutors had alleged Gonzales did not follow his training and endangered the 19 students who died and an additional 10 students who survived the May 24, 2022, Robb Elementary School mass shooting. Gonzales’ lawyers argued he was unfairly blamed for a broader law-enforcement failure that day.
Cazares said he was hopeful that the jury might have reached a different conclusion, but “prepared for the worst.”
“I need to keep composed for my daughter. It has been an emotional rollercoaster since day one. I am pissed,” he said.
Jackie’s uncle, Jesse Rizo, told reporters he was concerned about the message the verdict might send to police officers who respond to future mass shootings.
“I respect the jury’s decision, but what message does it send?” he said. “If you’re an officer, you can simply stand by, stand down, stand idle, and not do anything and wait for everybody to be executed, killed, slaughtered, massacred.”
Jackie’s aunt, Julissa Rizo, pushed back on the defense narrative that Gonzales responded as best he could, telling ABC News, “That’s not true.”
“There were two monsters on May 24. One was the shooter, and the other one was the one that never went in, that could have avoided this,” she said.
Defense attorney Jason Goss told reporters that he believes the acquittal clears Gonzales’ name.
“The evidence showed that not only did he not fail, but he put himself in great danger,” Goss said.
Gonzales told ABC News he plans on “picking up the pieces and moving forward.”
Defense attorney Nico LaHood said he will continue to pray for the victims’ families.
“We understand that their separation from their loved one is going to be felt as long as they walk on this earth, and we don’t ignore that. We acknowledge that,” he said. “We’re just going to continue to pray for them.”
Cazares said he will attend the trial of the other officer charged, former Uvalde Schools Police Chief Pete Arredondo.
Arredondo, who was the on-site commander on the day of the Robb Elementary shooting, is also charged with endangerment or abandonment of a child and has pleaded not guilty. His case has been delayed indefinitely by an ongoing federal lawsuit filed after the U.S. Border Patrol refused repeated efforts by Uvalde prosecutors to interview Border Patrol agents who responded to the shooting, including two who were in the tactical unit responsible for killing the gunman at the school.
ABC News’ John Quiñones and Emily Shapiro contributed to this report.
Jeffrey Epstein is seen in this image released by the Department of Justice in Washington, December 19, 2025 (U.S. Justice Department)
(NEW YORK) — Even as investigators took Jeffrey Epstein into custody in July 2019, they were already turning their attention to others in the wealthy financier and convicted sex offender’s vast orbit who might also be involved in his crimes, according to a massive new trove of files released by the Justice Department early Tuesday morning.
The fresh batch of files also add new details to the Epstein saga not previously known, including operational details that went into planning for his 2019 arrest; how some federal officials reacted to his death by suicide in jail; and images of the fake Austrian passport Epstein held under a pseudonym.
And the files included a 2020 heads up from a federal prosecutor that Trump had traveled with Epstein more than was previously known at the time.
The latest DOJ disclosure under the Epstein Files Transparency Act includes more than 10,000 files totaling more than 10 gigabytes of material, ranging from internal government emails to investigative materials, to a blueprint of Epstein’s Manhattan townhouse used by officials executing their search.
The DOJ posted the new materials just after midnight ET on Tuesday morning, marking the latest cache of materials released under a congressional mandate. The law, which President Donald Trump signed in November, required the DOJ to release all the documents by Friday, Dec. 19, although the department has said the vetting process required to protect Epstein’s victims has slowed their delivery.
A statement from alleged victims said the DOJ “violated the law” by “failing to redact survivor identities.”
Epstein, the wealthy financier and convicted sex offender, died by suicide in a New York jail in 2019. A co-conspirator, Ghislaine Maxwell, is serving a 20-year prison sentence for sex trafficking of minors and other offenses.
Investigation into potential co-conspirators
Hours after Epstein had been arrested at Teterboro Airport and his Manhattan home had been raided, investigators also sought to ramp up their pursuit of others who might also potentially be involved in his alleged crimes.
Though it has previously been reported that investigations of possible Epstein co-conspirators were a focus after his death, the new disclosures indicate that those efforts had already begun by the time he was arrested — and were in fact well underway.
“When you get a chance can you give me an update on the status of the 10 co-conspirators?” someone from the FBI’s New York office wrote in an email at 12:24 p.m. July 7, 2019 — the day after Epstein’s arrest. The reply: That contact had been made with some of the alleged accomplices, and investigators were efforting others. Most of the names are redacted; however some are not.
The documents the DOJ chose to release Tuesday do not detail the information investigators sought from these individuals, nor the basis for characterizing them as potential co-conspirators.
“Attempts were made to [redacted] and Brunel,” the update said, referring to Jean-Luc Brunel, a now-disgraced modeling agent and Epstein associate, who would be arrested the following year in Paris and charged with rape of minors over the age of 15 and sexual harassment. It’s not clear if the charges related specifically to any Epstein victim. Brunel, who maintained his innocence, was found dead by suicide in his Paris prison cell in February 2022.
“Attempts to [Ghislaine] Maxwell are being made in Boston today,” the July 7 email said.
“I do not know about Ohio contacting Wexner,” the email added — referring to Leslie Wexner, the Ohio billionaire for whom Epstein served as a longtime personal financial adviser.
Wexner has previously denied any knowledge of Epstein’s behavior and said he had cut ties with him in 2007. “I condemn his abhorrent behavior in the strongest possible terms and am sickened by the revelations I have read over the past weeks,” he said in a written statement to his foundation after Epstein’s arrest, obtained by ABC News at the time. The founder and chairman of L Brands said after Epstein’s death that he was “embarrassed” to have ever been associated with the disgraced sex offender.
Wexner has never been charged and was not identified at Maxwell’s trial as a co-conspirator.
In another email exchange, dated July 9, 2019, a member of the FBI’s Crimes Against Children Human Trafficking Unit received an update on the 10 alleged co-conspirators.
“3 have been located in FL and served GJ subpoenas; 1 in Boston, 1 in NYC, and 1 in CT were located and served,” the email said. “4 of the 10 are outstanding with attempts having been made. 1 is a wealthy business man in Ohio, a lead is being sent to CV; the remaining 3 are currently out of pocket.”
The email added that teams of special agents and prosecutors were shortly flying out to “various locations” in Florida “to interview approximately 25 victims.”
About month later, Epstein would be found dead by suicide in his New York jail cell. But his death did not halt investigations into his associates, according to the files.
In September 2019, prosecutors exchanging updates noted the investigation into Epstein’s alleged co-conspirators was “ongoing,” and that they had had conversations with several people who would cooperate in the investigation. Prosecutors later detailed a seven-page “memo on co-conspirators we could potentially charge” as well as a 86-page “co-conspirator update memo,” according to the files.
In July 2020, Maxwell would be arrested by the FBI in New Hampshire. She was charged by the Southern District of New York with conspiring to entice minors to travel to engage in illegal sex acts, sex trafficking of a minor and other offenses. She was convicted in 2021 on five of six counts and sentenced to 20 years in prison.
No alleged co-conspirator other than Maxwell has ever been charged, and the Department of Justice said in July that there were no credible allegations that would lead to charges against others.
A heads-up about Trump’s travel
Six months after Maxwell’s arrest, prosecutors receiving Epstein-related records discovered that the onetime friend and current sitting president had in the 1990s traveled with Epstein far more than they had previously known.
“For your situational awareness, wanted to let you know that the flight records we received yesterday reflect that Donald Trump traveled on Epstein’s private jet many more times than previously has been reported (or that we were aware), including during the period we would expect to charge in a Maxwell case,” according to the Jan. 7, 2020, email to recipients whose names and email addresses are redacted.
“In particular, he is listed as a passenger on at least eight flights between 1993 and 1996, including at least four flights on which Maxwell was also present,” the email said. “He is listed as having traveled with, among others and at various times, Marla Maples, his daughter Tiffany, and his son Eric. On one flight in 1993, he and Epstein are the only two listed passengers; on another, the only three passengers are Epstein, Trump, and then-20-year-old [redacted]. On two other flights, two of the passengers, respectively, were women who would be possible witnesses in a Maxwell case. We’ve just finished reviewing the full records (more than 100 pages of very small script) and didn’t want any of this to be a surprise down the road.” It’s not clear if there was any response to the message.
The flight records of Epstein’s private aircraft documents referenced in that email would later become public exhibits during Maxwell’s 2021 trial. There was no allegation raised during those proceedings that Trump’s travels on Epstein’s plane were in any way connected to the charges against Maxwell.
Prosecutors press for interview with Prince Andrew
One of the documents included is an extensive email exchange in September and October 2020 between an assistant U.S. attorney in the Southern District of New York and a lawyer representing then-Prince Andrew of Britain.
In the email exchange — which took place a few months after Maxwell’s arrest — Andrew’s lawyer lays out restrictions on the manner of the interview, including Andrew only providing a signed witness statement, and the topics he would agree to discuss.
Prosecutors pushed for a live in-person or virtual interview, according to the files. Andrew’s lawyer appeared to refuse, agreeing only to written answers. In the last email of the exchange, the assistant U.S. attorney writes, “[B]ecause the written statement you propose to provide will not assist our investigation, we intend to move forward with our MLA request seeking a compelled interview of your client.” An MLA request, or Mutual Legal Assistance, is a request from one country to another for assistance in a legal matter. It’s not clear from the newly-disclosed files if prosecutors followed through on the MLA request.
The fact that Andrew, who has been stripped of his title as prince, had offered a written statement, and that the SNDY had declined that format and intended to pursue an MLA request were reported at the time — but these communications reveal an extensive inside look at the process of those negotiations.
Details of Epstein’s arrest
Meticulous planning went into the undercover operation that would ultimately take Epstein into custody, according to the newly released DOJ files.
Among the documents is an “Operations Order Form,” dated July 2, 2019 — four days before he would be arrested — that strategizes how it might all go down upon his return from overseas.
“Epstein is presently out of the country. A silent hit notification with [Customs and Border Protection] has been put into effect for his return to the US. Upon Epstein’s return to the US, CBP will detain him at an airport. Agents and NYPD detectives will coordinate with FBI Newark and CBP, then respond to effect the arrest of Epstein,” the document said.
“Once Epstein is in custody, a search warrant for his premises in New York will be sworn out,” the document said. “Agents and NYPD detectives will knock and announce their presence at the subject premises. Upon entry, the subject premises will be secured and the search warrant will be executed. Teams will then break off to conduct interviews.”
The order mentions a “tactical brief” scheduled for July 8. But agents got word Epstein’s return home was imminent, according to the files.
“We received a hit notification that our sub will be landing at Teterboro at 1720 tomorrow, 7/6/2019,” according to a July 5, 2019, email from an FBI special agent. The agent then goes on to suggest that they should plan to meet at the airport at 3:30 p.m. “in case of an early landing.”
The exchange noted Epstein used a private plane and was a “frequent flier out of Teterboro. Ideally we would like to pick him up when he arrives.” Because Epstein would be arriving on an international flight, CBP would need to initiate the arrest, the agents noted.
Also included in the documents is the arrest warrant for Epstein dated July 2, 2019, and issued by SDNY. Epstein was arrested July 6, 2019, when he landed at Teterboro.
Epstein’s alter ego, ‘Marius Fortelni’’
The new disclosure also includes several photographs of a fake Austrian passport bearing a photograph of Epstein — but in the name of Marius Robert Fortelni — who listed his occupation as “Manager” and his residence as Dammam, Saudi Arabia.
The passport was issued in 1982 and was valid until 1987. On the inside pages are stamps from airport arrivals in Paris and Nice, France, in the early 1980s as well as entry stamps for England and the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia.
After Epstein’s arrest in 2019, prosecutors said they had discovered that passport in a safe in Epstein’s New York mansion, along with three U.S. passports, 48 loose diamonds and $70,000 in cash.
Epstein’s defense attorneys, seeking to secure bail for their client, said that two of the US passports were expired. The foreign passport, they claimed, was given to Epstein “by a friend,” and he had never used it to travel. They argued he received it in the 1980s for personal protection when traveling in the Middle East.
Internal government reaction immediately after Epstein’s death
Internal communications sent in the hours after Epstein was found unresponsive at the Metropolitan Correctional Center in Lower Manhattan in August 2019 show how some people with federal email addresses reacted to the news, with one stating that they could not understand how it happened.
“His victims deserve some sort of modicum of justice and this is not how it should have gone down,” one unidentified individual wrote.
The names and email addresses of the people who sent the messages were redacted.
“In separate news and not to be crass but Epstein! Wow. Can we still pursue forfeiture against the estate?” one of the emails said.
“We can bring a civil forfeiture against the properties IF we’re within statute, which we may not be. We’ll have to look at it, but we’ve got some time, since I’m pretty sure no one’s going to want to have that be was our immediate reaction to his suicide,” another person responded. “We can’t pursue any kind of general money judgment against the estate – there we’re out of luck.”
One person wrote in an email that it had not been a “great year” for the Bureau of Prisons in the New York area.
“It’s just slightly more awkward where he was somehow allowed to commit suicide on a second try in two weeks by a branch of our government,” the email noted.
(NEW YORK) — Millions of people in the High Plains will experience widespread wind gusts between 60 and 80 mph, from Montana to Kansas.
This wind, which will last all day and into the evening, could take down large trees, cause power outages, reduce visibility with blowing dust, and make travel dangerous for high-profile vehicles, which could be turned over.
On the eastern side of the strongest winds, blowing snow is also expected — either snow that has already fallen and is picked up from the ground, or new snow from the new storm.
A winter weather advisory is in place from North Dakota to Iowa for gusts between 40 and 50 mph, with snow accumulations up to one inch.
Light snow is forecast to fall across Wisconsin and Michigan, continuing into Michigan and Ohio on Friday afternoon.
In the evening, snow is forecast to fall from West Virginia and Ohio to western Pennsylvania and western New York. On Saturday, snow is possible across much of the Northeast.
The I-95 corridor may see snow Saturday morning and early afternoon, or a rain and snow mix, from Washington, D.C., to Maine.
A dusting is possible in Washington, D.C., around an inch is expected in Philadelphia and up to 2 inches are possible around New York City and Boston.
Farther inland, parts of upstate New York, western Connecticut and western Massachusetts, and parts of areas north of I-90, may see 3 to 6 inches of snow accumulation.
Snow will be out of the region by late afternoon Saturday.
(NEW YORK) — A person was shot in an incident involving U.S. Border Patrol in Arivaca, Arizona, a Pima County Sheriff’s Department spokesperson told ABC News.
The shooting occurred early Tuesday morning, the Santa Rita Fire District said. Emergency responders provided first aid at the scene and the person was taken to a hospital in unknown condition, officials said.
The FBI described the incident as “an alleged assault on a federal officer” and said “the subject was taken into custody.”
Pima County Sheriff spokesperson Angelica Carrillo said, “All we have to release at this, at this point, is that a U.S. Border Patrol agent was involved in a shooting here in Arivaca, and that the FBI Phoenix office has called the sheriff’s department to assist in this investigation.”
The sheriff’s office said it’s leading the use-of-force investigation involving the agent, at the request of the FBI.
“We ask the community to remain patient and understanding as this investigation moves forward,” the sheriff’s department said.
This is a developing story. Please check back for updates.
