Police – NBC 5 Dallas-Fort Worth

An exterior door at Robb Elementary Faculty didn't lock when it was closed by a teacher 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 said Tuesday.

State police initially mentioned a instructor had propped the door open shortly earlier than the shooter entered the varsity in Uvalde, Texas, on Could 24.

They have now decided that the trainer, 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, said Travis Considine, chief communications officer for the Texas Department of Public Safety. However, Considine stated, the door didn't lock.

“We did verify she closed the door. The door didn't lock. We all know that a lot and now investigators are wanting into why it did not lock,” Considine mentioned.

Investigators confirmed the element by way of extra video footage reviewed since final Friday’s information convention 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 instructor 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 came again out while on her cellphone, she heard somebody yell, ‘He has a gun!’, she saw him bounce the fence and that he had a gun, so she ran again inside,” eradicating the rock when she did, Considine mentioned.

San Antonio lawyer Don Flanary told the San Antonio Categorical-News that the Robb Elementary College worker, 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 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 whereas telling 911 that he was capturing,” Flanary informed the newspaper.

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

“She thought the door would lock as a result of that door is always imagined to be locked,” Flanary stated.

Flanary did not instantly return phone messages left at his office from The Related Press.

Investigators are also nonetheless attempting to interview Uvalde Consolidated Unbiased Faculty District Police Chief Pete Arredondo, who state police have mentioned was the commander of the varsity shooting scene whereas it occurred.

Steven McCraw, the head of the Texas Department of Public Security, has mentioned Arredondo treated the energetic scene as a hostage state of affairs and as if kids have been not in danger, while 19 police officers waited within the school hallway outdoors the classroom where the shooter was.

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

Different officers within the Uvalde city and schools police departments proceed to take a seat for interviews and supply statements, however Arredondo has not responded to DPS requests for 2 days, Considine said.