Police – NBC 5 Dallas-Fort Worth

An exterior door at Robb Elementary College didn't lock when it was closed by a instructor shortly before a gunman used it to get inside and kill 19 college students and two teachers, leaving investigators searching to determine why, state police said Tuesday.

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

They have now decided that the instructor, 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, mentioned Travis Considine, chief communications officer for the Texas Department of Public Safety. But, Considine stated, the door didn't lock.

“We did confirm she closed the door. The door did not 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 additional video footage reviewed since last Friday’s news convention 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 stated the instructor initially propped the door open but ran again inside to get her phone and call 911 when the gunman crashed his truck on campus.

“She got here back out while on her cellphone, she heard someone yell, ‘He has a gun!’, she saw him leap the fence and that he had a gun, so she ran back inside,” removing the rock when she did, Considine stated.

San Antonio legal professional Don Flanary advised the San Antonio Categorical-Information that the Robb Elementary School worker, 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 hold food from a automobile 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 capturing,” Flanary advised the newspaper.

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

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

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

Investigators are also still trying to interview Uvalde Consolidated Independent Faculty District Police Chief Pete Arredondo, who state police have stated was the commander of the varsity taking pictures scene while it occurred.

Steven McCraw, the pinnacle of the Texas Division of Public Security, has said Arredondo treated the energetic scene as a hostage scenario and as if youngsters had been now not at risk, while 19 law enforcement officials waited within the college hallway outside the classroom where the shooter was.

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

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