Police – NBC 5 Dallas-Fort Worth

An exterior door at Robb Elementary Faculty didn't lock when it was closed by a instructor shortly before a gunman used it to get inside and kill 19 college students and two academics, leaving investigators looking out to find out why, state police mentioned Tuesday.

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

They have now decided that the teacher, who has not been identified, 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 Department of Public Security. However, 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 trying into why it didn't lock,” Considine said.

Investigators confirmed the element through extra 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 stated the instructor initially propped the door open but ran again inside to get her phone and name 911 when the gunman crashed his truck on campus.

“She got here again out while on her phone, she heard somebody yell, ‘He has a gun!’, she saw him jump the fence and that he had a gun, so she ran again inside,” eradicating the rock when she did, Considine stated.

San Antonio legal professional Don Flanary told the San Antonio Express-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 hold food from a automotive to a classroom, the attorney stated.

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

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

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

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

Investigators are also still attempting to interview Uvalde Consolidated Unbiased College District Police Chief Pete Arredondo, who state police have stated was the commander of the school taking pictures scene while it happened.

Steven McCraw, the pinnacle of the Texas Department of Public Security, has mentioned Arredondo handled the lively scene as a hostage state of affairs and as if youngsters have been not at risk, whereas 19 police officers waited in the college hallway exterior the classroom the place the shooter was.

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

Other officers within the Uvalde metropolis and colleges police departments proceed to sit down for interviews and supply statements, however Arredondo has not responded to DPS requests for 2 days, Considine said.