Police – NBC 5 Dallas-Fort Price

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

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

They have now determined 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, said Travis Considine, chief communications officer for the Texas Department of Public Security. However, Considine mentioned, the door did not lock.

“We did confirm she closed the door. The door didn't lock. We all know that much and now investigators are wanting into why it didn't lock,” Considine mentioned.

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

Considine mentioned the instructor initially propped the door open however ran again inside to get her phone and call 911 when the gunman crashed his truck on campus.

“She came back out while 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 back inside,” removing the rock when she did, Considine mentioned.

San Antonio attorney 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 loose. She had initially propped it open to carry meals from a automobile to a classroom, the lawyer said.

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

Funerals are planned for the next two-and-a-half weeks for the 19 children and two teachers who had been killed in that classroom on Might 24.

“She thought the door would lock because that door is at all times presupposed to be locked,” Flanary mentioned.

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

Investigators are also nonetheless attempting to interview Uvalde Consolidated Independent Faculty District Police Chief Pete Arredondo, who state police have mentioned was the commander of the varsity taking pictures scene whereas it happened.

Steven McCraw, the head of the Texas Department of Public Security, has stated Arredondo treated the active scene as a hostage scenario and as if youngsters had been no longer in danger, whereas 19 law enforcement officials waited within the college hallway exterior the classroom the place the shooter was.

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

Different officers in the Uvalde metropolis and faculties police departments proceed to sit down for interviews and supply statements, but Arredondo has not responded to DPS requests for 2 days, Considine said.