Uvalde shooter entered Robb Elementary School through door propped open by teacher, police say

It is unclear why the exterior door was propped open at the time of the attack

The Uvalde shooter reportedly entered Robb Elementary School through a door propped open near the rear of the building, according to police.

Salvador Ramos, the gunman who killed 19 students and two faculty members at the school in a mass shooting, reportedly ran into the school through a door that had been left open.

Steven McCraw, the Director and Colonel of the Texas Department of Public Safety, told reporters on Friday that video footage showed a door at the school had been propped open, and that a teacher exited the door after the gunman crashed his truck into a nearby ditch.

After the crash, two men from a nearby funeral home ran toward the accident before the shooter emerged from the truck with a gun. They began running away and the gunman began firing at them. He did not hit either of the men.

The teacher spotted at the propped open door then ran back inside and grabbed a phone to call 911. The gunman began walking along the exterior of the school and started shooting in through the windows, according to police reports. The teacher then ran back inside the door, which remained propped open. The gunman entered through the door and entered a nearby classroom that was connected to another classroom through an interior door.

Police arriving on scene lined up inside the school's hallway but reportedly fell back after the gunman shot through the door and grazed two officers.

Police showed a school map at Friday’s press conference (Copyright 2022 The Associated Press. All rights reserved.)

At that point, Mr McCraw claims that police stopped responding to the situation as an active shooter incident — in which they are expected to directly engage with the gunman as quickly as possible — and began treating it as a barricaded suspect incident. Mr McCraw noted that call was "the wrong decision."

The gunman remained inside the building for 90 minutes, during which time he killed 19 students and two educators. Police remained outside until a Border Patrol BORTAC unit arrived with ballistic shields and killed the gunman.

A video from the scene of the shooting showed the gun man walking into the school (Facebook/screengrab)

Law enforcement agencies responding to the scene have been criticised for inaction while the gunman was inside killing children. They faced further condemnation after reports emerged that parents who wanted to enter the school to save their children were restrained by officers.

Mc McCraw also revealed that several 911 calls were made over the 90 minute shooting incident, including one call by a child who was killed trying to get help. He said that at least two callers survived the incident.