Police – NBC 5 Dallas-Fort Worth

An exterior door at Robb Elementary College 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 find out why, state police stated Tuesday.

State police initially said a teacher had propped the door open shortly before the shooter entered the college 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, however 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 confirm she closed the door. The door didn't lock. We all know that much and now investigators are trying into why it didn't lock,” Considine mentioned.

Investigators confirmed the detail by means of extra video footage reviewed since final Friday’s information 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 trainer initially propped the door open but ran again inside to get her phone and call 911 when the gunman crashed his truck on campus.

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

San Antonio attorney Don Flanary advised the San Antonio Express-News that the Robb Elementary Faculty worker, whom he’s not naming, closed the door shut after realizing that a gunman was on the unfastened. She had initially propped it open to carry meals from a automobile to a classroom, the lawyer stated.

“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 deliberate for the next two-and-a-half weeks for the 19 youngsters and two lecturers who were killed in that classroom on Might 24.

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

Flanary didn't instantly return phone messages left at his workplace from The Associated Press.

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

Steven McCraw, the head of the Texas Department of Public Safety, has stated Arredondo treated the lively scene as a hostage state of affairs and as if children have been no longer in danger, while 19 cops waited in the college hallway outside the classroom the place the shooter was.

McCraw called that the “mistaken determination,” saying the main target of the investigation has shifted to Arredondo and the police response.

Other officers within the Uvalde city and colleges police departments continue to take a seat for interviews and provide statements, but Arredondo has not responded to DPS requests for 2 days, Considine mentioned.