Police – NBC 5 Dallas-Fort Worth

An exterior door at Robb Elementary School did not lock when it was closed by a instructor shortly before a gunman used it to get inside and kill 19 students and two lecturers, leaving investigators looking to find out why, state police said Tuesday.

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

They have now decided that the teacher, 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, stated 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 didn't lock. We all know that a lot and now investigators are wanting into why it did not lock,” Considine stated.

Investigators confirmed the element via additional video footage reviewed since final Friday’s news convention when authorities first mentioned 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 instructor initially propped the door open but ran back inside to get her telephone and name 911 when the gunman crashed his truck on campus.

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

San Antonio lawyer Don Flanary instructed the San Antonio Express-News that the Robb Elementary School worker, 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 hold food from a automotive to a classroom, the attorney mentioned.

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

Funerals are planned for the next two-and-a-half weeks for the 19 youngsters and two lecturers who had been killed in that classroom on May 24.

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

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

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

Steven McCraw, the pinnacle of the Texas Department of Public Security, has mentioned Arredondo handled the lively scene as a hostage state of affairs and as if kids have been not in danger, while 19 police officers waited in the college hallway outdoors the classroom where the shooter was.

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

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