Police – NBC 5 Dallas-Fort Worth

An exterior door at Robb Elementary School didn't lock when it was closed by a teacher shortly before a gunman used it to get inside and kill 19 college students and two academics, leaving investigators looking out to determine why, state police mentioned Tuesday.

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

They've now determined that the instructor, who has not been recognized, propped the door open with a rock, however 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 Division of Public Security. But, Considine stated, the door did not lock.

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

Investigators confirmed the element through further video footage reviewed since last Friday’s news 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 said the teacher initially propped the door open however ran again inside to get her cellphone and name 911 when the gunman crashed his truck on campus.

“She came again out while on her telephone, 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,” removing the rock when she did, Considine stated.

San Antonio lawyer Don Flanary instructed the San Antonio Specific-Information that the Robb Elementary School 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 hold food from a automotive to a classroom, the legal professional said.

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

Funerals are deliberate for the next two-and-a-half weeks for the 19 children and two academics who were killed in that classroom on Might 24.

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

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

Investigators are also nonetheless trying to interview Uvalde Consolidated Unbiased College District Police Chief Pete Arredondo, who state police have stated was the commander of the school shooting scene while it occurred.

Steven McCraw, the top of the Texas Department of Public Safety, has mentioned Arredondo handled the active scene as a hostage scenario and as if youngsters had been no longer in danger, while 19 police officers waited in the college hallway exterior the classroom the place the shooter was.

McCraw called that the “mistaken decision,” 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 continue to sit for interviews and provide statements, but Arredondo has not responded to DPS requests for 2 days, Considine said.