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Texas police: Teacher closed propped-open door before attack

Texas School Shooting
Posted at 5:37 PM, May 31, 2022
and last updated 2022-05-31 17:37:55-04

UVALDE, Texas (AP) — State police say the Robb Elementary School teacher who propped open an exterior door that a gunman used to get inside and kill 19 students and two teachers had closed the door, but it did not lock.

Investigators initially said the teacher propped the door open with a rock and did not remove it before 18-year-old Salvador Ramos entered the building on May 24.

Travis Considine, a spokesman for the Texas Department of Public Safety, said Tuesday that investigators had determined the teacher removed the rock and closed the door when she realized there was a shooter on campus but that it did not lock.

The teacher has not been identified.

According to Considine, the teacher initially propped open the door but ran back inside to grab her phone to call 911 when Ramos crashed his truck.

Considine added that the teacher then came back outside, and while on the phone, she heard someone yell that he had a gun.

She then watched Ramos jump the fence and saw that he had a gun. She then removed the rock and ran back inside, Considine said.

Considine said they did verify that the teacher closed the door and that it did not lock.

He added that investigators are looking into why the door did not lock.