Police – NBC 5 Dallas-Fort Worth

An exterior door at Robb Elementary College did not lock when it was closed by a instructor shortly before a gunman used it to get inside and kill 19 students and two teachers, leaving investigators looking out to determine why, state police mentioned Tuesday.

State police initially stated a trainer had propped the door open shortly earlier than the shooter entered the varsity in Uvalde, Texas, on Could 24.

They have now determined that the teacher, who has not been identified, 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, mentioned Travis Considine, chief communications officer for the Texas Department of Public Security. But, Considine said, the door did not lock.

“We did verify she closed the door. The door didn't lock. We all know that much and now investigators are trying into why it didn't lock,” Considine said.

Investigators confirmed the element by way of further video footage reviewed since last Friday’s information 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 instructor initially propped the door open but ran again inside to get her cellphone and call 911 when the gunman crashed his truck on campus.

“She came again out whereas on her telephone, she heard somebody yell, ‘He has a gun!’, she saw him bounce the fence and that he had a gun, so she ran again inside,” eradicating the rock when she did, Considine mentioned.

San Antonio legal professional Don Flanary informed the San Antonio Specific-News 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 meals from a automobile to a classroom, the lawyer mentioned.

“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 informed the newspaper.

Funerals are planned for the next two-and-a-half weeks for the 19 children and two academics who were killed in that classroom on Might 24.

“She thought the door would lock as a result of that door is always supposed to be locked,” Flanary mentioned.

Flanary did not instantly return phone messages left at his office from The Associated Press.

Investigators are additionally nonetheless trying to interview Uvalde Consolidated Independent College District Police Chief Pete Arredondo, who state police have said was the commander of the varsity capturing scene while it occurred.

Steven McCraw, the head of the Texas Division of Public Security, has said Arredondo treated the active scene as a hostage scenario and as if kids were no longer at risk, whereas 19 law enforcement officials waited within the school hallway exterior the classroom where the shooter was.

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

Different officers within the Uvalde metropolis and colleges police departments proceed to sit for interviews and supply statements, but Arredondo has not responded to DPS requests for 2 days, Considine said.