- Police never checked to see if the classroom door was locked during the Uvalde, Texas, school shooting, a state official said.
- Col. Steve McCraw, the director of the Texas Department of Public Safety, said the door was "unsecured."
- Authorities wasted time waiting for a key to the door that was not needed, McCraw said.
Police who responded to the Uvalde, Texas, deadly school shooting never checked to see if the door to the classroom where the gunman carried out the rampage was locked, even as authorities wasted time waiting for a key, a top state law enforcement official said on Tuesday.
Col. Steve McCraw, the director of the Texas Department of Public Safety, described the door to the Robb Elementary School classroom where a shooter killed 19 children and two teachers last month as "unsecured" in testimony before a Texas State Senate committee investigating the May 24 mass shooting.
"I don't believe based on the information we have right now that that door was ever secured," McCraw said. "In fact, I have great reason to believe it wasn't secured."
McCraw added: "The door was unsecured and we've gone back and checked in our interviews and did anybody touch the door, and try it?"
"How about trying the door, and seeing if it's unlocked … and of course, no one had," McCraw said.
McCraw said that based on police body-camera footage, "We could never see anybody put their hand on the door up until the breach."
The 18-year-old gunman entered the school building at 11:33 a.m, but it wasn't until 12:50 p.m. that authorities breached the classroom door and shot and killed the shooter.
It took 77 minutes for officers to go into the classroom where the gunman went on the shooting spree and stop him, even though students trapped inside repeatedly called 911 for help.
McCraw said that even if the classroom door was locked, authorities could have found another way inside.
"You didn't need a key, there's tools," McCraw said, adding, "You don't have to wait for a key and shouldn't ever have to wait for a key to breach."
This story is developing. Please check back for updates.
