Police – NBC 5 Dallas-Fort Price

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 mentioned a teacher had propped the door open shortly earlier than the shooter entered the college in Uvalde, Texas, on May 24.

They've now decided that the instructor, who has not been identified, 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, mentioned Travis Considine, chief communications officer for the Texas Department of Public Safety. However, Considine stated, the door didn't lock.

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

Investigators confirmed the detail by means of additional video footage reviewed since last Friday’s information conference when authorities first said that the door had been left propped open. Authorities did not state at that time what had been used to prop open the door.

Considine stated the trainer initially propped the door open however ran back inside to get her cellphone 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 noticed him leap the fence and that he had a gun, so she ran again inside,” eradicating the rock when she did, Considine stated.

San Antonio legal professional Don Flanary advised the San Antonio Specific-News that the Robb Elementary College 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 meals from a car to a classroom, the attorney mentioned.

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

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

“She thought the door would lock because that door is always purported to be locked,” Flanary stated.

Flanary did not immediately return telephone messages left at his workplace from The Related Press.

Investigators are additionally still making an attempt to interview Uvalde Consolidated Impartial College District Police Chief Pete Arredondo, who state police have said was the commander of the varsity taking pictures scene whereas it happened.

Steven McCraw, the top of the Texas Department of Public Security, has stated Arredondo treated the lively scene as a hostage situation and as if kids have been now not at risk, whereas 19 law enforcement officials waited within the college hallway exterior the classroom the place the shooter was.

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

Different officers within the Uvalde city and faculties police departments proceed to sit down for interviews and provide statements, however Arredondo has not responded to DPS requests for 2 days, Considine mentioned.