Texas taking pictures: Teacher closed propped-open door earlier than gunman received in

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 college students and two academics, leaving investigators looking out to find out why, state police mentioned Tuesday.

State police initially mentioned a trainer had propped the door open shortly earlier than Salvador Ramos, 18, entered the varsity in Uvalde, Texas, on May 24.

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They have 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, mentioned Travis Considine, chief communications officer for the Texas Department of Public Safety. But, Considine mentioned, the door didn’t lock.

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

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

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Considine mentioned the trainer initially propped the door open however ran again inside to get her cellphone and name 911 when Ramos crashed his truck on campus.

“She came back out while on her phone, she heard someone yell, ‘He has a gun!’, she saw him jump the fence and that he had a gun, so she ran back inside,” eradicating 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 unfastened. She had initially propped it open to hold meals from a automobile to a classroom, the lawyer mentioned.

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

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“She thought the door would lock because that door is always supposed to be locked,” Flanary mentioned.

Flanary didn’t instantly return phone messages left at his workplace from The Associated Press.

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

Steven McCraw, the top of the Texas Department of Public Safety, has mentioned Arredondo handled the energetic scene as a hostage state of affairs and as if youngsters had been now not in danger, whereas 19 law enforcement officials waited within the faculty hallway exterior the classroom the place Ramos was.

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

Other officers within the Uvalde metropolis and colleges police departments proceed to take a seat for interviews and supply statements, however Arredondo has not responded to DPS requests for 2 days, Considine mentioned.