The Doors Were Unlocked. The Locks Were Defeated. The System Failed Before Adrian Gonzales Ever Arrived.

I've been covering trials for years now, and I've learned to listen for the testimony that doesn't make headlines. The moments that slip past the cameras while everyone focuses on the dramatic stuff.

Day 1 of Texas v. Adrian Gonzales gave us plenty of drama. A teacher who says she saw the shooter. A discovery dispute that halted the trial. Prosecutors and defense attorneys arguing about what was disclosed and when.

But the testimony that should keep every parent in America awake tonight came from a Texas Ranger named Jason Shay. And it wasn't about Adrian Gonzales at all.

The Doors Were Unlocked

Ranger Shay has been in law enforcement for 27 years. He's been a firearms instructor for nearly a quarter century. He's processed crime scenes across Texas. And when the defense attorney asked him about the school doors at Robb Elementary, here's what he confirmed:

There was a pattern of staff defeating the door locks with magnets.

The principal herself told investigators about this practice.

The exterior doors were unlocked.

The interior classroom doors were unlocked.

One classroom door lock was known to be broken, had been reported to maintenance, and nothing was done about it.

And here's the detail that matters most: There was no school resource officer assigned to Robb Elementary School.

Let me say that again. The school had a policy requiring locked doors. Staff systematically defeated those locks. Leadership knew about it. A broken lock went unfixed. And there was no officer actually assigned to protect those children on a daily basis.

Adrian Gonzales worked at the high school. He wasn't even supposed to be there.

What the Evidence Actually Shows

Ranger Justin Duck testified about recovering evidence from the shooter's crashed truck. Over three days, Rangers found the horror of what this monster brought to that school: an AR-15 style rifle, 12 to 14 magazines holding 20 to 30 rounds each, spent casings showing the weapon had already been fired before he entered the building.

That's potentially 400 rounds of ammunition. Against children armed with safety scissors.

I watched Stephanie Hill, a third grade teacher, describe how she and her colleagues armed themselves with scissors and tied extension cords around door frames because they weren't sure their classroom doors were locked. The students saw what the teachers were doing. They grabbed their own safety scissors.

Third graders. Preparing to fight a rifle with scissors. Because the system that was supposed to protect them had already failed.

What This Trial Is Really About

The prosecution wants you to believe Adrian Gonzales failed those children. Maybe he did. That's what trials are for. The jury will decide.

But Day 1 testimony reveals something the prosecution probably didn't want highlighted: The system failed those children before Adrian Gonzales ever drove onto that campus.

Doors that should have been locked weren't locked.

Locks that should have worked didn't work.

An officer who should have been assigned wasn't assigned.

Ranger Shay was asked directly: If there's no school resource officer assigned to a school, can that non-existent officer be expected to report security problems? His answer was obvious. "If he had never been there, then no, he wouldn't know that."

Adrian Gonzales had never been there. It wasn't his school. He responded to a call about a car crash and drove toward gunfire.

I'm not saying Gonzales is innocent. I'm not saying he's guilty. I'm saying what I always say: Watch the system. Question everything.

And right now, Day 1 is raising questions the prosecution would rather not answer.

The Trial Stops

The trial was suspended after Stephanie Hill's testimony when the defense raised concerns about a late disclosure. She testified to seeing the shooter on the south side of the building, near where Gonzales was positioned. The defense says this is the first time anyone disclosed that detail, despite the prosecution interviewing her weeks before trial.

Judge Harle continued the trial until Thursday morning. We'll be there.

Because if the system is going to put one officer on trial for what happened at Uvalde, then the system better be prepared to answer for its own failures too.

Those doors were unlocked. Those children deserved better. And someone needs to explain why the first criminal defendant from Uvalde is the man who drove toward the gunfire, not the people who left those doors open in the first place.