Surveillance Footage Reportedly Refutes Claim By Uvalde Police That Teacher Left Door Open Before Massacre

The timeline of events surrounding the Uvalde, Texas elementary school shooting that left more than 20 dead has gotten even more complicated as new surveillance footage reportedly disproves the blaming of a teacher for the gunman’s entry by Texas Department of Safety Director Steve McCraw.

At a disastrous press conference, McCraw claimed that an employee at Robb Elementary School left a door propped open to bring food into the school, and it was through this door that the gunman made entry. According to the employee’s lawyer, however, the door was in fact shut by the teacher as soon as they heard gunshots from the shooter, who was firing on funeral home employees before entering the school.

“She saw the wreck. She ran back inside to get her phone to report the accident. She came back out while on the phone with 9-1-1. The men at the funeral home yelled, ‘He has a gun!’ She saw him jump the fence, and he had a gun so she ran back inside,” Don Flanary said, according to the Houston Chronicle. The employee is not being identified out of safety concerns.

The employee called 9-1-1, according to the lawyer, and slammed the door shut while doing so, which would refute McCraw’s claim at a press conference that it was left propped open, giving access to the gunman.

“She kicked the rock away when she went back in. She remembers pulling the door closed while telling 9-1-1 that he was shooting. She thought the door would lock because that door is always supposed to be locked,” Flanary said.

Further complicating McCraw’s account is that surveillance footage reportedly confirms that the teacher shut the door before the gunman made entry, according to a law enforcement official speaking to the Houston Chronicle.

Another source told the paper that a separate door in the building had a non-functioning locking mechanism, meaning the door closed by the teacher could have also not been locked after it was closed.

Uvalde police have already come under scrutiny for their response to the shooting for a delayed response, prompted by the on-scene commander declaring it was no longer an active shooter situation once the gunman had barricaded himself inside the classroom. This is despite the fact that students were in the room with him, some even calling 9-1-1.

McCraw admitted at his press conference this was the “wrong” call as it led to a massive delay in response time. Border Patrol agents eventually arrived on scene, breached the room, and killed the shooter.

State Sen. Roland Gutierrez (D) claimed on Friday that there was, incomprehensibly, never an official command to breach from local police, with BP agents entering the school and confronting the shooter out of “frustration” with the ongoing delays.