Police – NBC 5 Dallas-Fort Worth

An exterior door at Robb Elementary School 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 teachers, leaving investigators looking to determine why, state police mentioned Tuesday.

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

They've now determined that the instructor, who has not been identified, 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, said Travis Considine, chief communications officer for the Texas Division of Public Security. However, Considine stated, the door did not lock.

“We did confirm 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 means of additional video footage reviewed since last Friday’s information convention when authorities first stated 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 said the instructor initially propped the door open but ran back inside to get her telephone and name 911 when the gunman crashed his truck on campus.

“She came again 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 mentioned.

San Antonio lawyer Don Flanary instructed the San Antonio Specific-Information 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 food from a automobile to a classroom, the legal professional said.

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

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

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

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

Investigators are additionally nonetheless attempting to interview Uvalde Consolidated Independent College District Police Chief Pete Arredondo, who state police have said was the commander of the college capturing scene whereas it happened.

Steven McCraw, the pinnacle of the Texas Department of Public Safety, has said Arredondo treated the active scene as a hostage scenario and as if children had been not at risk, while 19 law enforcement officials waited in the school hallway outdoors the classroom where the shooter was.

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

Other officers within the Uvalde city and faculties police departments continue to sit for interviews and provide statements, however Arredondo has not responded to DPS requests for two days, Considine mentioned.