Police – NBC 5 Dallas-Fort Worth

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

State police initially mentioned a trainer had propped the door open shortly before the shooter entered the college in Uvalde, Texas, on Might 24.

They have now determined that the trainer, 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, mentioned Travis Considine, chief communications officer for the Texas Department of Public Safety. But, Considine stated, the door did not lock.

“We did verify 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 mentioned.

Investigators confirmed the detail through extra video footage reviewed since final Friday’s information conference when authorities first said that the door had been left propped open. Authorities did not state at the moment what had been used to prop open the door.

Considine stated the teacher initially propped the door open however ran again inside to get her cellphone and name 911 when the gunman crashed his truck on campus.

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

San Antonio legal professional Don Flanary instructed the San Antonio Specific-News that the Robb Elementary College 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 hold food from a car to a classroom, the legal professional 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 instructed the newspaper.

Funerals are planned for the next two-and-a-half weeks for the 19 youngsters and two academics who had been killed in that classroom on Might 24.

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

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

Investigators are additionally nonetheless making an attempt to interview Uvalde Consolidated Unbiased School District Police Chief Pete Arredondo, who state police have said was the commander of the varsity taking pictures scene whereas it occurred.

Steven McCraw, the top of the Texas Division of Public Safety, has mentioned Arredondo treated the active scene as a hostage scenario and as if kids have been now not in danger, whereas 19 cops waited within the school hallway outdoors the classroom where the shooter was.

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

Other officers in the Uvalde city and faculties police departments proceed to sit for interviews and provide statements, however Arredondo has not responded to DPS requests for 2 days, Considine said.