Police – NBC 5 Dallas-Fort Price

An exterior door at Robb Elementary Faculty didn't lock when it was closed by a trainer shortly before a gunman used it to get inside and kill 19 college students and two teachers, leaving investigators searching to determine why, state police stated Tuesday.

State police initially said a teacher had propped the door open shortly earlier than the shooter entered the college in Uvalde, Texas, on Might 24.

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

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

Investigators confirmed the element by further video footage reviewed since final Friday’s information convention when authorities first mentioned that the door had been left propped open. Authorities did not state at the moment 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 phone and name 911 when the gunman crashed his truck on campus.

“She got here again out while on her phone, she heard somebody yell, ‘He has a gun!’, she saw him leap the fence and that he had a gun, so she ran again inside,” removing the rock when she did, Considine stated.

San Antonio legal professional Don Flanary informed the San Antonio Specific-News 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 carry meals from a automobile to a classroom, the legal professional 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 instructed the newspaper.

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

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

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

Investigators are also nonetheless attempting to interview Uvalde Consolidated Independent College District Police Chief Pete Arredondo, who state police have stated was the commander of the varsity shooting scene whereas it happened.

Steven McCraw, the head of the Texas Division of Public Safety, has stated Arredondo treated the active scene as a hostage situation and as if children were no longer in danger, while 19 cops waited within the college 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.

Other officers in the Uvalde metropolis and faculties police departments proceed to take a seat for interviews and supply statements, but Arredondo has not responded to DPS requests for two days, Considine mentioned.