Police – NBC 5 Dallas-Fort Price

An exterior door at Robb Elementary Faculty did not lock when it was closed by a teacher shortly earlier than a gunman used it to get inside and kill 19 students and two academics, leaving investigators searching to determine why, state police stated Tuesday.

State police initially stated a instructor had propped the door open shortly earlier than the shooter entered the school in Uvalde, Texas, on May 24.

They've 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, stated Travis Considine, chief communications officer for the Texas Department of Public Safety. However, Considine mentioned, the door didn't lock.

“We did verify she closed the door. The door didn't lock. We know that a lot and now investigators are trying into why it didn't lock,” Considine mentioned.

Investigators confirmed the detail by way of extra video footage reviewed since last Friday’s news conference when authorities first mentioned 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 trainer initially propped the door open but ran back inside to get her phone and call 911 when the gunman crashed his truck on campus.

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

San Antonio legal professional Don Flanary instructed the San Antonio Specific-News that the Robb Elementary School employee, 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 automotive to a classroom, the lawyer mentioned.

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

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

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

Flanary didn't instantly return telephone messages left at his office from The Related Press.

Investigators are also nonetheless attempting to interview Uvalde Consolidated Unbiased School District Police Chief Pete Arredondo, who state police have stated was the commander of the school capturing scene whereas it occurred.

Steven McCraw, the top of the Texas Department of Public Safety, has stated Arredondo handled the lively scene as a hostage state of affairs and as if kids have been not at risk, whereas 19 police officers waited within the school hallway exterior the classroom where the shooter was.

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

Other officers within the Uvalde metropolis and schools police departments proceed to sit down for interviews and supply statements, but Arredondo has not responded to DPS requests for 2 days, Considine said.