Police – NBC 5 Dallas-Fort Worth

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

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

They have now determined that the trainer, 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, said Travis Considine, chief communications officer for the Texas Department of Public Security. However, Considine said, the door didn't lock.

“We did confirm she closed the door. The door didn't lock. We know that a lot and now investigators are looking into why it didn't lock,” Considine said.

Investigators confirmed the detail via extra video footage reviewed since last Friday’s information convention when authorities first mentioned that the door had been left propped open. Authorities didn't state at that time what had been used to prop open the door.

Considine stated the instructor initially propped the door open but ran back inside to get her cellphone and name 911 when the gunman crashed his truck on campus.

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

San Antonio legal professional Don Flanary instructed the San Antonio Categorical-News that the Robb Elementary School 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 carry meals from a automobile to a classroom, the attorney stated.

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

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

“She thought the door would lock as a result of that door is at all times imagined to be locked,” Flanary said.

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

Investigators are also still making an attempt to interview Uvalde Consolidated Impartial College District Police Chief Pete Arredondo, who state police have mentioned was the commander of the college capturing scene whereas it happened.

Steven McCraw, the head of the Texas Department of Public Security, has stated Arredondo handled the active scene as a hostage scenario and as if kids were no longer at risk, while 19 police officers waited within the school hallway outdoors the classroom the place the shooter was.

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

Different officers in the Uvalde city and schools police departments continue to sit for interviews and supply statements, but Arredondo has not responded to DPS requests for two days, Considine mentioned.