Police – NBC 5 Dallas-Fort Price

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

State police initially stated a teacher had propped the door open shortly before 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, 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 Division of Public Security. However, Considine mentioned, the door did not lock.

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

Investigators confirmed the element by way of extra video footage reviewed since final Friday’s news convention when authorities first stated that the door had been left propped open. Authorities didn't state at that time what had been used to prop open the door.

Considine mentioned the teacher initially propped the door open however ran back inside to get her cellphone and name 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 noticed him bounce the fence and that he had a gun, so she ran again inside,” eradicating the rock when she did, Considine said.

San Antonio attorney Don Flanary informed the San Antonio Categorical-Information that the Robb Elementary College 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 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 whereas telling 911 that he was taking pictures,” Flanary advised the newspaper.

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

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

Flanary didn't instantly return phone messages left at his workplace from The Related Press.

Investigators are also still trying to interview Uvalde Consolidated Independent College District Police Chief Pete Arredondo, who state police have stated was the commander of the school capturing scene whereas it occurred.

Steven McCraw, the pinnacle of the Texas Department of Public Safety, has stated Arredondo handled the active scene as a hostage scenario and as if children were now not at risk, whereas 19 police officers waited within the college hallway exterior the classroom where the shooter was.

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

Different officers within the Uvalde city and colleges police departments continue to sit for interviews and supply statements, however Arredondo has not responded to DPS requests for 2 days, Considine said.