Police – NBC 5 Dallas-Fort Value

An exterior door at Robb Elementary School didn't lock when it was closed by a trainer shortly before a gunman used it to get inside and kill 19 college students and two teachers, leaving investigators looking out to determine why, state police stated Tuesday.

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

They have now determined that the instructor, who has not been identified, propped the door open with a rock, however then eliminated 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 Safety. However, Considine said, the door didn't lock.

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

Investigators confirmed the element via further video footage reviewed since last Friday’s information convention 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 mentioned the instructor initially propped the door open but ran again inside to get her phone and name 911 when the gunman crashed his truck on campus.

“She got here again out while on her cellphone, she heard someone yell, ‘He has a gun!’, she saw him bounce the fence and that he had a gun, so she ran back inside,” removing the rock when she did, Considine stated.

San Antonio legal professional Don Flanary advised the San Antonio Express-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 hold food from a automotive to a classroom, the attorney said.

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

Funerals are planned for the following 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 as a result of that door is all the time speculated to be locked,” Flanary said.

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

Investigators are additionally still making an attempt to interview Uvalde Consolidated Unbiased Faculty District Police Chief Pete Arredondo, who state police have said was the commander of the school capturing scene whereas it occurred.

Steven McCraw, the pinnacle of the Texas Division of Public Safety, has mentioned Arredondo handled the energetic scene as a hostage state of affairs and as if children had been now not in danger, whereas 19 cops waited in the school hallway outdoors the classroom where the shooter was.

McCraw referred to as that the “incorrect choice,” saying the main target of the investigation has shifted to Arredondo and the police response.

Different officers within 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 two days, Considine mentioned.