Police – NBC 5 Dallas-Fort Value

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

State police initially stated a trainer had propped the door open shortly earlier than 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 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. But, Considine said, the door didn't lock.

“We did verify she closed the door. The door didn't lock. We know that much and now investigators are looking into why it didn't lock,” Considine stated.

Investigators confirmed the element via extra video footage reviewed since last Friday’s information conference when authorities first said 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 said the trainer initially propped the door open however ran back inside to get her cellphone and name 911 when the gunman crashed his truck on campus.

“She came back out whereas on her telephone, she heard somebody 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 mentioned.

San Antonio attorney Don Flanary informed 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 unfastened. She had initially propped it open to carry food from a automobile to a classroom, the legal professional stated.

“She kicked the rock away when she went back in. She remembers pulling the door closed while 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 had been killed in that classroom on Could 24.

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

Flanary didn't immediately return phone messages left at his office from The Associated Press.

Investigators are additionally still trying to interview Uvalde Consolidated Independent School District Police Chief Pete Arredondo, who state police have mentioned was the commander of the varsity shooting scene while it occurred.

Steven McCraw, the head of the Texas Division of Public Security, has stated Arredondo handled the energetic scene as a hostage scenario and as if children were now not in danger, while 19 police officers waited in the college hallway exterior the classroom where the shooter was.

McCraw called that the “flawed decision,” saying the focus of the investigation has shifted to Arredondo and the police response.

Other officers within the Uvalde city and faculties police departments continue to take a seat for interviews and provide statements, however Arredondo has not responded to DPS requests for two days, Considine mentioned.