Police – NBC 5 Dallas-Fort Worth

An exterior door at Robb Elementary College did not 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 academics, leaving investigators searching to find out why, state police mentioned Tuesday.

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

They have now determined that the instructor, who has not been identified, propped the door open with a rock, but 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. However, Considine stated, the door did not lock.

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

Investigators confirmed the detail by way of further video footage reviewed since final Friday’s information conference when authorities first mentioned 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 mentioned the instructor 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 again out whereas on her telephone, 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,” removing the rock when she did, Considine mentioned.

San Antonio legal professional Don Flanary informed the San Antonio Specific-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 hold food from a automotive to a classroom, the legal professional stated.

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

Funerals are deliberate for the following two-and-a-half weeks for the 19 kids and two teachers who were killed in that classroom on May 24.

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

Flanary didn't immediately return phone messages left at his office from The Associated Press.

Investigators are additionally nonetheless trying to interview Uvalde Consolidated Unbiased Faculty District Police Chief Pete Arredondo, who state police have stated was the commander of the college shooting scene whereas it happened.

Steven McCraw, the pinnacle of the Texas Division of Public Safety, has stated Arredondo treated the active scene as a hostage scenario and as if youngsters were now not in danger, while 19 cops waited within the school hallway exterior the classroom the place the shooter was.

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

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