Police – NBC 5 Dallas-Fort Value

An exterior door at Robb Elementary Faculty did not 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 find out why, state police stated Tuesday.

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

They have now determined that the trainer, who has not been recognized, propped the door open with a rock, but then eliminated the rock and closed the door when she realized there was a shooter on campus, said Travis Considine, chief communications officer for the Texas Department of Public Security. However, Considine mentioned, the door didn't lock.

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

Investigators confirmed the detail by means of additional video footage reviewed since final Friday’s news conference when authorities first stated 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 back inside to get her cellphone and call 911 when the gunman crashed his truck on campus.

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

San Antonio legal professional Don Flanary advised the San Antonio Categorical-Information that the Robb Elementary College worker, 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 hold meals from a car to a classroom, the lawyer stated.

“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 next two-and-a-half weeks for the 19 youngsters and two teachers who were killed in that classroom on Could 24.

“She thought the door would lock as a result of that door is always purported to be locked,” Flanary stated.

Flanary didn't instantly return phone messages left at his workplace from The Related Press.

Investigators are additionally still trying to interview Uvalde Consolidated Unbiased College District Police Chief Pete Arredondo, who state police have said was the commander of the school taking pictures scene whereas it happened.

Steven McCraw, the pinnacle of the Texas Department of Public Security, has said Arredondo treated the lively scene as a hostage situation and as if youngsters have been now not in danger, whereas 19 law enforcement officials waited in the faculty hallway exterior the classroom the place the shooter was.

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

Different officers within the Uvalde metropolis and colleges police departments proceed to sit for interviews and provide statements, but Arredondo has not responded to DPS requests for 2 days, Considine said.