Absolutely no excuse for fleeing the scene

[Decoy of Fenris]

38. I'm not saying the cop is pristine, I'm saying the castigation of him is lunacy.

Scenario 1: Cop stays outside. Kids inside die, police show up, situation is handled by properly equipped authorities. Pretty much what happened.

Scenario 2: Cop goes in. Immediately gets shot, dies, body count goes up by one.

Scenario 3: Cop goes in. Raises gun in standoff with shooter. Two outcomes: Shooter dead, cop dead. Unknown number of collateral casualties, uncertain conclusion; shooter potentially alive, continues rampage, now has another gun and ammo.

Scenario 4: Cop goes in. Raises gun, patrols halls. Fleeing civilian startles cop, cop fires, innocent dead, unknown resolution of situation

Scenario 5: Cop goes in. Raises gun, patrols halls. Shooter has already left, cop can begin administering medical attention to those who need it. This is likely the ideal outcome.

Scenario 6: Cop goes in, immediately comes upon shooter unaware and displaying hostility towards civilians. Cop fires, eliminates target, becomes hero cop.

Scenario 7: Cop goes in, takes a shot and misses (or is spotted), shooter barricades in a classroom full of children. Now it's a hostage situation. Body count potentially doubles or more. This is the "Worst case" scenario in my mind, and the most likely.



There are -far- too many variables to account for, and these are only a handful of potential outcomes. Being blunt, this cop did the only sane and rational thing to do; In the face of unknown odds and with lives on the line, he didn't exacerbate the situation by escalating into an armed conflict or standoff scenario. Yes, kids died, but in this instance, the cop doing nothing possibly/probably prevented a large number of further deaths in a protracted standoff scenario. One way or another, barring the ludicrously unlikely "Hero cop" scenario, there were no good options here and far too many bad endings with either the cop dead or the cop causing further casualties.