Police – NBC 5 Dallas-Fort Price

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

State police initially said a instructor had propped the door open shortly earlier than the shooter entered the school in Uvalde, Texas, on Might 24.

They have now determined that the trainer, who has not been identified, 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 said, the door did not lock.

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

Investigators confirmed the element by means of extra video footage reviewed since last Friday’s information 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 said the instructor initially propped the door open but ran back inside to get her cellphone and call 911 when the gunman crashed his truck on campus.

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

San Antonio lawyer Don Flanary told the San Antonio Express-News 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 carry meals from a automotive to a classroom, the legal professional mentioned.

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

Funerals are planned for the following two-and-a-half weeks for the 19 kids and two lecturers who have been killed in that classroom on Might 24.

“She thought the door would lock because that door is all the time presupposed to be locked,” Flanary said.

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

Investigators are additionally nonetheless making an attempt to interview Uvalde Consolidated Unbiased School District Police Chief Pete Arredondo, who state police have mentioned was the commander of the college capturing scene while it occurred.

Steven McCraw, the top of the Texas Division of Public Security, has mentioned Arredondo handled the active scene as a hostage scenario and as if children had been no longer in danger, while 19 police officers waited within the school hallway exterior the classroom where the shooter was.

McCraw referred to as that the “mistaken decision,” saying the main target of the investigation has shifted to Arredondo and the police response.

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