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 searching to determine why, state police mentioned Tuesday.

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

They've now determined that the trainer, who has not been identified, 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, mentioned Travis Considine, chief communications officer for the Texas Department of Public Security. But, 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 wanting into why it did not lock,” Considine mentioned.

Investigators confirmed the detail through further video footage reviewed since last Friday’s information conference when authorities first said 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 mentioned the instructor initially propped the door open however ran again inside to get her phone and name 911 when the gunman crashed his truck on campus.

“She got here back out while on her cellphone, she heard someone yell, ‘He has a gun!’, she noticed him leap the fence and that he had a gun, so she ran back inside,” removing the rock when she did, Considine mentioned.

San Antonio attorney Don Flanary told the San Antonio Express-Information that the Robb Elementary Faculty employee, 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 food from a automotive 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 shooting,” Flanary informed the newspaper.

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

“She thought the door would lock because that door is always supposed to be locked,” Flanary said.

Flanary didn't instantly return phone messages left at his office from The Related Press.

Investigators are additionally nonetheless trying to interview Uvalde Consolidated Unbiased Faculty District Police Chief Pete Arredondo, who state police have stated was the commander of the varsity capturing scene whereas it happened.

Steven McCraw, the head of the Texas Division of Public Safety, has said Arredondo handled the energetic scene as a hostage state of affairs and as if kids were not in danger, while 19 cops waited within the school hallway outside the classroom where the shooter was.

McCraw called that the “fallacious decision,” saying the focus of the investigation has shifted to Arredondo and the police response.

Different officers within the Uvalde city and colleges police departments continue to take a seat for interviews and provide statements, however Arredondo has not responded to DPS requests for two days, Considine stated.