Police – NBC 5 Dallas-Fort Worth

An exterior door at Robb Elementary School didn't lock when it was closed by a trainer shortly earlier than a gunman used it to get inside and kill 19 students and two teachers, 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've 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, mentioned Travis Considine, chief communications officer for the Texas Division of Public Safety. However, Considine mentioned, the door did not lock.

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

Investigators confirmed the element by means of further video footage reviewed since last Friday’s information conference when authorities first mentioned 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 mentioned the instructor initially propped the door open however ran again inside to get her telephone and call 911 when the gunman crashed his truck on campus.

“She got here back out whereas on her telephone, she heard someone yell, ‘He has a gun!’, she saw him soar the fence and that he had a gun, so she ran again inside,” removing the rock when she did, Considine said.

San Antonio legal professional Don Flanary advised the San Antonio Express-Information that the Robb Elementary School worker, 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 carry meals from a automotive 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 shooting,” Flanary advised the newspaper.

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

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

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

Investigators are additionally 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 varsity taking pictures scene while it occurred.

Steven McCraw, the head of the Texas Division of Public Safety, has said Arredondo handled the energetic scene as a hostage scenario and as if youngsters have been now not at risk, whereas 19 cops waited within the faculty hallway outdoors the classroom the place the shooter was.

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

Different officers in the Uvalde metropolis and colleges police departments proceed to sit for interviews and supply statements, however Arredondo has not responded to DPS requests for 2 days, Considine stated.