Police – NBC 5 Dallas-Fort Worth

An exterior door at Robb Elementary Faculty 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 lecturers, leaving investigators looking out to find out why, state police stated Tuesday.

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

They have now decided 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 Safety. But, Considine mentioned, 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 wanting into why it did not lock,” Considine mentioned.

Investigators confirmed the element by means of additional video footage reviewed since last Friday’s news conference 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 instructor initially propped the door open however ran back inside to get her cellphone and call 911 when the gunman crashed his truck on campus.

“She came back out whereas on her cellphone, she heard somebody yell, ‘He has a gun!’, she saw him jump the fence and that he had a gun, so she ran back inside,” eradicating the rock when she did, Considine said.

San Antonio lawyer Don Flanary advised the San Antonio Categorical-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 meals from a automotive to a classroom, the attorney said.

“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 academics who had been killed in that classroom on Could 24.

“She thought the door would lock because that door is at all times alleged to be locked,” Flanary stated.

Flanary didn't instantly return phone messages left at his office from The Related Press.

Investigators are also still making an attempt to interview Uvalde Consolidated Independent Faculty District Police Chief Pete Arredondo, who state police have mentioned was the commander of the school capturing scene whereas it occurred.

Steven McCraw, the top of the Texas Division of Public Security, has stated Arredondo treated the energetic scene as a hostage state of affairs and as if kids have been not in danger, whereas 19 police officers waited in the college hallway outside the classroom the place the shooter was.

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

Different officers in the Uvalde city and schools police departments proceed to sit for interviews and provide statements, however Arredondo has not responded to DPS requests for two days, Considine said.