Police – NBC 5 Dallas-Fort Worth

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

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

They have now determined that the teacher, who has not been identified, propped the door open with a rock, but then removed the rock and closed the door when she realized there was a shooter on campus, said Travis Considine, chief communications officer for the Texas Division of Public Safety. However, Considine mentioned, the door didn't lock.

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

Investigators confirmed the element by further 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 the moment what had been used to prop open the door.

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

“She came back out whereas on her cellphone, she heard someone yell, ‘He has a gun!’, she saw him jump the fence and that he had a gun, so she ran again inside,” removing the rock when she did, Considine mentioned.

San Antonio attorney Don Flanary informed the San Antonio Express-News that the Robb Elementary Faculty 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 automotive to a classroom, the lawyer mentioned.

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

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

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

Flanary didn't immediately return telephone messages left at his workplace from The Related Press.

Investigators are additionally nonetheless trying to interview Uvalde Consolidated Unbiased Faculty District Police Chief Pete Arredondo, who state police have stated was the commander of the varsity capturing scene whereas it happened.

Steven McCraw, the top of the Texas Division of Public Safety, has stated Arredondo treated the lively scene as a hostage scenario and as if kids were not at risk, whereas 19 cops waited within the college hallway exterior the classroom the place the shooter was.

McCraw called that the “unsuitable choice,” saying the focus of the investigation has shifted to Arredondo and the police response.

Other officers within the Uvalde metropolis and colleges police departments proceed to sit down for interviews and provide statements, but Arredondo has not responded to DPS requests for 2 days, Considine stated.