Police – NBC 5 Dallas-Fort Price

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 students and two lecturers, leaving investigators looking out to determine why, state police stated Tuesday.

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

They have now determined that the teacher, who has not been recognized, propped the door open with a rock, however then eliminated 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 mentioned, the door did not lock.

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

Investigators confirmed the element through further video footage reviewed since last Friday’s news convention when authorities first mentioned that the door had been left propped open. Authorities didn't state at the moment what had been used to prop open the door.

Considine mentioned the trainer initially propped the door open however ran back inside to get her telephone and call 911 when the gunman crashed his truck on campus.

“She got here again out whereas 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 said.

San Antonio lawyer Don Flanary told the San Antonio Categorical-Information that the Robb Elementary Faculty employee, 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 hold meals from a car to a classroom, the legal professional mentioned.

“She kicked the rock away when she went again in. She remembers pulling the door closed whereas telling 911 that he was capturing,” Flanary advised the newspaper.

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

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

Flanary did not immediately return phone messages left at his office from The Associated Press.

Investigators are additionally still making an attempt to interview Uvalde Consolidated Independent School District Police Chief Pete Arredondo, who state police have stated was the commander of the college taking pictures scene whereas it occurred.

Steven McCraw, the pinnacle of the Texas Division of Public Security, has mentioned Arredondo handled the lively scene as a hostage state of affairs and as if youngsters have been now not in danger, while 19 police officers waited in the school hallway outside the classroom the place the shooter was.

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

Different officers in the Uvalde city and faculties police departments continue to sit for interviews and provide statements, but Arredondo has not responded to DPS requests for 2 days, Considine stated.