Police – NBC 5 Dallas-Fort Value

An exterior door at Robb Elementary Faculty 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 searching to determine why, state police said Tuesday.

State police initially said a instructor 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 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, mentioned Travis Considine, chief communications officer for the Texas Department of Public Safety. But, Considine stated, the door did not lock.

“We did confirm 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 information conference when authorities first said 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 trainer initially propped the door open but 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 telephone, she heard someone yell, ‘He has a gun!’, she noticed 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 lawyer Don Flanary informed the San Antonio Categorical-News that the Robb Elementary Faculty employee, whom he’s not naming, closed the door shut after realizing that a gunman was on the free. She had initially propped it open to carry food from a automobile to a classroom, the lawyer mentioned.

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

Funerals are planned for the next two-and-a-half weeks for the 19 children and two lecturers who were killed in that classroom on Might 24.

“She thought the door would lock because that door is all the time speculated to be locked,” Flanary said.

Flanary didn't immediately return telephone messages left at his workplace from The Associated Press.

Investigators are additionally nonetheless making an attempt to interview Uvalde Consolidated Impartial Faculty District Police Chief Pete Arredondo, who state police have stated was the commander of the college capturing scene while it happened.

Steven McCraw, the head of the Texas Department of Public Security, has stated Arredondo handled the active scene as a hostage scenario and as if children were not in danger, while 19 police officers waited within the faculty hallway exterior the classroom the place the shooter was.

McCraw referred to as that the “wrong determination,” saying the main focus of the investigation has shifted to Arredondo and the police response.

Other officers in the Uvalde city and colleges police departments proceed to take a seat for interviews and supply statements, but Arredondo has not responded to DPS requests for 2 days, Considine stated.