Police – NBC 5 Dallas-Fort Worth

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

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

They've now determined that the instructor, who has not been recognized, propped the door open with a rock, but 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 stated, the door did not lock.

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

Investigators confirmed the element through further video footage reviewed since final Friday’s news conference when authorities first stated 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 cellphone and name 911 when the gunman crashed his truck on campus.

“She came again out while on her cellphone, she heard someone yell, ‘He has a gun!’, she saw him bounce the fence and that he had a gun, so she ran again 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 College worker, whom he’s not naming, closed the door shut after realizing that a gunman was on the loose. She had initially propped it open to hold meals from a automotive to a classroom, the lawyer mentioned.

“She kicked the rock away when she went back in. She remembers pulling the door closed while telling 911 that he was capturing,” Flanary informed the newspaper.

Funerals are planned for the subsequent two-and-a-half weeks for the 19 youngsters and two academics who were killed in that classroom on Could 24.

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

Flanary didn't immediately return phone messages left at his workplace from The Related Press.

Investigators are additionally still making an attempt to interview Uvalde Consolidated Independent College District Police Chief Pete Arredondo, who state police have said was the commander of the school taking pictures scene whereas it happened.

Steven McCraw, the top of the Texas Department of Public Safety, has stated Arredondo treated the lively scene as a hostage state of affairs and as if children were not at risk, while 19 cops waited in the college hallway outdoors the classroom where the shooter was.

McCraw referred to as that the “flawed determination,” saying the main focus of the investigation has shifted to Arredondo and the police response.

Other officers in the Uvalde metropolis and faculties police departments continue to sit for interviews and provide statements, but Arredondo has not responded to DPS requests for 2 days, Considine stated.