Police – NBC 5 Dallas-Fort Worth

An exterior door at Robb Elementary School 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 said Tuesday.

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

They've now determined that the teacher, who has not been recognized, 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, stated 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 all know that a lot and now investigators are looking into why it didn't lock,” Considine stated.

Investigators confirmed the detail through additional video footage reviewed since last Friday’s information convention when authorities first stated 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 said the trainer initially propped the door open but ran again inside to get her phone and call 911 when the gunman crashed his truck on campus.

“She came again out whereas on her telephone, she heard somebody yell, ‘He has a gun!’, she noticed him leap the fence and that he had a gun, so she ran back inside,” eradicating the rock when she did, Considine mentioned.

San Antonio legal professional Don Flanary informed the San Antonio Categorical-Information that the Robb Elementary School employee, whom he’s not naming, closed the door shut after realizing that a gunman was on the unfastened. She had initially propped it open to carry food from a car to a classroom, the legal professional said.

“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 instructed the newspaper.

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

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

Flanary did not immediately return phone messages left at his workplace from The Associated Press.

Investigators are also nonetheless trying to interview Uvalde Consolidated Unbiased School District Police Chief Pete Arredondo, who state police have mentioned was the commander of the college capturing scene while it occurred.

Steven McCraw, the pinnacle of the Texas Division of Public Safety, has mentioned Arredondo handled the lively scene as a hostage state of affairs and as if kids had been not at risk, while 19 cops waited in the faculty hallway outside the classroom where the shooter was.

McCraw called that the “incorrect decision,” saying the focus of the investigation has shifted to Arredondo and the police response.

Different officers within the Uvalde metropolis and faculties police departments continue to take a seat for interviews and provide statements, however Arredondo has not responded to DPS requests for 2 days, Considine stated.