Police – NBC 5 Dallas-Fort Value

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 college students and two lecturers, leaving investigators looking to determine why, state police mentioned Tuesday.

State police initially mentioned a instructor had propped the door open shortly earlier than the shooter entered the varsity in Uvalde, Texas, on Might 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 Security. But, Considine mentioned, the door didn't lock.

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

Investigators confirmed the element through further video footage reviewed since final Friday’s news conference when authorities first stated 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 teacher initially propped the door open however ran back inside to get her phone and name 911 when the gunman crashed his truck on campus.

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

San Antonio lawyer Don Flanary advised the San Antonio Categorical-Information that the Robb Elementary Faculty worker, 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 carry meals from a car to a classroom, the legal professional mentioned.

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

Funerals are deliberate for the subsequent two-and-a-half weeks for the 19 youngsters and two academics who have been killed in that classroom on May 24.

“She thought the door would lock because that door is always imagined to be locked,” Flanary said.

Flanary did not immediately return phone messages left at his office from The Associated Press.

Investigators are also still attempting to interview Uvalde Consolidated Unbiased Faculty District Police Chief Pete Arredondo, who state police have stated was the commander of the college taking pictures scene while it occurred.

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

McCraw called that the “unsuitable decision,” saying the main target of the investigation has shifted to Arredondo and the police response.

Other officers in the Uvalde metropolis and faculties police departments continue to take a seat for interviews and supply statements, but Arredondo has not responded to DPS requests for two days, Considine said.