Police – NBC 5 Dallas-Fort Price

An exterior door at Robb Elementary School didn't lock when it was closed by a teacher 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 said Tuesday.

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

They've now decided that the instructor, 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, stated Travis Considine, chief communications officer for the Texas Division of Public Safety. But, Considine stated, the door didn't lock.

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

Investigators confirmed the element via extra video footage reviewed since final Friday’s information convention when authorities first said 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 said the instructor initially propped the door open however ran again inside to get her telephone and name 911 when the gunman crashed his truck on campus.

“She came back out while on her telephone, she heard somebody yell, ‘He has a gun!’, she noticed him soar the fence and that he had a gun, so she ran again inside,” removing the rock when she did, Considine stated.

San Antonio legal professional Don Flanary instructed the San Antonio Categorical-Information that the Robb Elementary School 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 food from a automotive to a classroom, the attorney mentioned.

“She kicked the rock away when she went back in. She remembers pulling the door closed while telling 911 that he was taking pictures,” Flanary advised the newspaper.

Funerals are deliberate for the subsequent two-and-a-half weeks for the 19 children and two lecturers who had been killed in that classroom on May 24.

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

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

Investigators are additionally nonetheless trying to interview Uvalde Consolidated Independent College District Police Chief Pete Arredondo, who state police have stated was the commander of the school taking pictures scene whereas it occurred.

Steven McCraw, the top of the Texas Division of Public Safety, has mentioned Arredondo treated the lively scene as a hostage scenario and as if youngsters had been not at risk, while 19 cops waited in the college hallway outdoors the classroom the place the shooter was.

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

Other officers within the Uvalde metropolis and colleges police departments proceed to sit down for interviews and provide statements, however Arredondo has not responded to DPS requests for 2 days, Considine mentioned.