Police – NBC 5 Dallas-Fort Price

An exterior door at Robb Elementary College did not lock when it was closed by a trainer 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 mentioned a trainer had propped the door open shortly earlier than the shooter entered the college in Uvalde, Texas, on Might 24.

They have now determined that the trainer, 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, stated Travis Considine, chief communications officer for the Texas Division of Public Security. However, Considine said, the door did not lock.

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

Investigators confirmed the element by further video footage reviewed since final Friday’s information conference when authorities first mentioned 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 mentioned the instructor initially propped the door open but ran back inside to get her cellphone and call 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 saw 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 instructed the San Antonio Specific-Information that the Robb Elementary College 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 car to a classroom, the legal professional stated.

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

Funerals are planned for the next two-and-a-half weeks for the 19 kids and two academics who were killed in that classroom on Could 24.

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

Flanary did not instantly return telephone messages left at his workplace from The Associated Press.

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

Steven McCraw, the pinnacle of the Texas Department of Public Safety, has said Arredondo handled the energetic scene as a hostage scenario and as if children have been no longer at risk, while 19 police officers waited in the faculty hallway exterior the classroom the place the shooter was.

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

Other officers within the Uvalde metropolis and schools police departments proceed to sit for interviews and supply statements, however Arredondo has not responded to DPS requests for two days, Considine stated.