Police – NBC 5 Dallas-Fort Worth

An exterior door at Robb Elementary School didn't lock when it was closed by a trainer shortly earlier than 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 stated a trainer had propped the door open shortly before the shooter entered the college in Uvalde, Texas, on Could 24.

They've now decided that the trainer, who has not been recognized, propped the door open with a rock, however 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. 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 wanting into why it didn't lock,” Considine said.

Investigators confirmed the detail through extra video footage reviewed since final Friday’s information 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 trainer initially propped the door open however ran back inside to get her telephone and call 911 when the gunman crashed his truck on campus.

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

San Antonio lawyer Don Flanary informed the San Antonio Express-News that the Robb Elementary School worker, 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 food from a automotive to a classroom, the legal professional stated.

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

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

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

Flanary did not instantly return phone messages left at his office from The Related Press.

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

Steven McCraw, the pinnacle of the Texas Department of Public Security, has stated Arredondo handled the active scene as a hostage situation and as if children have been no longer in danger, whereas 19 police officers waited in the school hallway outdoors the classroom the place the shooter was.

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

Different officers in the Uvalde metropolis and colleges police departments proceed to take a seat for interviews and provide statements, but Arredondo has not responded to DPS requests for two days, Considine mentioned.