Police – NBC 5 Dallas-Fort Worth

An exterior door at Robb Elementary College did not lock when it was closed by a teacher shortly earlier than a gunman used it to get inside and kill 19 college students and two teachers, leaving investigators searching to find out why, state police mentioned Tuesday.

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

They have now decided that the instructor, 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 Division of Public Security. But, Considine said, the door did not lock.

“We did verify she closed the door. The door did not lock. We know that a lot and now investigators are trying into why it did not lock,” Considine stated.

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

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

San Antonio attorney Don Flanary instructed the San Antonio Categorical-Information that the Robb Elementary Faculty 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 carry food from a automotive to a classroom, the lawyer mentioned.

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

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

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

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

Investigators are additionally still trying to interview Uvalde Consolidated Independent School District Police Chief Pete Arredondo, who state police have stated was the commander of the school taking pictures scene while it occurred.

Steven McCraw, the top of the Texas Division of Public Safety, has stated Arredondo handled the energetic scene as a hostage scenario and as if youngsters have been not in danger, whereas 19 cops waited within the college hallway outside the classroom the place the shooter was.

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

Other officers within the Uvalde metropolis and schools police departments proceed to sit down for interviews and supply statements, however Arredondo has not responded to DPS requests for 2 days, Considine stated.