Police – NBC 5 Dallas-Fort Value

An exterior door at Robb Elementary College didn't lock when it was closed by a teacher shortly before a gunman used it to get inside and kill 19 college students and two lecturers, leaving investigators looking out to determine why, state police mentioned Tuesday.

State police initially said a instructor had propped the door open shortly before the shooter entered the varsity in Uvalde, Texas, on May 24.

They've now decided that the trainer, who has not been recognized, propped the door open with a rock, however then removed the rock and closed the door when she realized there was a shooter on campus, stated Travis Considine, chief communications officer for the Texas Division of Public Security. However, Considine mentioned, the door didn't lock.

“We did verify she closed the door. The door did not lock. We all know that much and now investigators are looking into why it did not lock,” Considine stated.

Investigators confirmed the element by way of additional video footage reviewed since last Friday’s news convention when authorities first mentioned that the door had been left propped open. Authorities did not state at that time what had been used to prop open the door.

Considine stated the teacher initially propped the door open however ran back inside to get her phone and call 911 when the gunman crashed his truck on campus.

“She came back out whereas on her phone, she heard someone yell, ‘He has a gun!’, she saw him soar the fence and that he had a gun, so she ran back inside,” removing the rock when she did, Considine said.

San Antonio legal professional Don Flanary told the San Antonio Categorical-Information that the Robb Elementary Faculty employee, whom he’s not naming, closed the door shut after realizing that a gunman was on the free. She had initially propped it open to hold food from a automobile to a classroom, the attorney said.

“She kicked the rock away when she went again in. She remembers pulling the door closed while telling 911 that he was taking pictures,” Flanary instructed the newspaper.

Funerals are planned for the subsequent two-and-a-half weeks for the 19 children and two lecturers who had been killed in that classroom on May 24.

“She thought the door would lock because that door is at all times alleged to be locked,” Flanary said.

Flanary didn't instantly return telephone messages left at his workplace from The Associated Press.

Investigators are additionally still trying to interview Uvalde Consolidated Impartial School District Police Chief Pete Arredondo, who state police have said was the commander of the college taking pictures scene whereas it occurred.

Steven McCraw, the pinnacle of the Texas Division of Public Safety, has stated Arredondo handled the active scene as a hostage state of affairs and as if children had been now not in danger, whereas 19 law enforcement officials waited in the faculty hallway exterior the classroom where the shooter was.

McCraw called that the “flawed choice,” saying the main target of the investigation has shifted to Arredondo and the police response.

Other officers within the Uvalde city and colleges police departments continue to take a seat for interviews and supply statements, however Arredondo has not responded to DPS requests for 2 days, Considine mentioned.