First image released from inside school during Uvalde massacre shows cops waiting for an hour with bullet-resistant shield

The photo shows multiple Uvalde police officers inside Robb Elementary School at a timestamp of 11:52 am, nearly an hour before the shooter was shot and killed.

One officer is seen pointing his rifle while standing behind a bullet-resistant shield. Other officers are hiding behind a hallway with rifles in hand, appearing as if they are waiting for orders.

According to Texas Tribune, officers had four ballistic shields inside the school during the standoff with the gunman, with the first arriving 58 minutes before officers stormed the classrooms.

The shooter remained alive inside the classroom until 12:50 p.m., according to a timeline of the events.

Suspect Salvador Ramos, 18, shot and killed 19 students and two teachers, making the Robb Elementary School massacre one of the largest in US history.

The timestamp reveals that police officers were inside the school within 19 minutes of the lone gunman arriving on campus, adding further questions towards the response from law enforcement officers on that harrowing day.

Uvalde police chief Pete Arredondo told Texas Tribune that officers tried to breach both classroom doors but surveillance footage from inside the building revealed that officers did not make an attempt to enter the doors of classrooms 111 and 112, where Ramos killed the victims of the Robb Elementary School shooting.

However, Ramos did shoot and injure two of the three initial responding officers that attempted to approach the classroom, which forced them to retreat. The officers were not equipped with bullet-resistant shields when they first approached Ramos.

The biggest question that remains is whether or not police officers' decision not to enter the classroom prevented the 21 victims from receiving life-saving care. It remains unclear if the gunman killed more victims after police officers arrived on scene.