Not only is this disrespectful but it is a good example of how folks who do not understand a situation will spread inflammatory and inaccurate information.
First of all, the commander on scene made it quite clear to Anderson Cooper that what the media was initially reporting was incorrect. He explained what took place. The three hours pertained to when they knocked out the wall and took out the gunman. The police were on scene within minutes of learning of the attack and they went right in, as he explained they have been trained to do since Columbine. Those policeman engaged the shooter and even though he had them outgunned, they were able to push him to the back part by the bathrooms. This allowed them to pull out folks from the front part of the building...folks who were either okay or needed medical care. Yes, they saved many lives while risking their own. He said his officers were in the front part of the building the entire time.
Second, you need to understand the difference between an active shooter and a hostage situation. Once they had him pushed back and confined, at some point it became a hostage situation rather than a shooter running around killing folks. As bad as it may sound, someone shooting folks who are basically hostages is not the same as someone on a shooting spree - not from a tactical standpoint. The SOP changes because they don't want those hostages killed because of their actions. This includes negotiation, which took place.
Many of the victims trapped in the bathroom stated quite clearly that they heard the shooter talking about numerous shooters, bombs, suicide vests, etc. He also told some of them he would put suicide vests on them. This information was being relayed to family members and police, who have to take all of this into consideration. During phone calls, which are recorded and documented, he also told police he had bombs in his car that he would detonate and that he had vests as used in Paris. The police are not psychic; they rely on information from the inside. You act like the police knew from the beginning that there was only this one guy with a couple of guns. Given everything they are being told from him AND victims inside, should they just ignore these very real dangers? One suicide vest could take out everyone in the bathroom and then they all would have died. A bomb in a car...gees, there were hundreds of cars in the lot - what car was his and where was it? More than one shooter...if true where were they within the building?
Had they acted different and there actually was a bomb that killed everyone, then folks would be screaming that SWAT was stupid and never should have done what they did knowing what they knew. It may take months if not years before we know all of what took place that night.
They did what they thought best given the information they were being presented in real time, and that's why they are the experts and why we put our faith in them to do what they do. Second guessing them when we were not there and could not possibly know the obstacles with which they were faced is just arrogant and totally disrespectful to not only the police, but to those inside who endured this and did their best to relay information to the outside...information they had every reason to believe was accurate.
And if you think for one minute that these police and SWAT officers don't think about this stuff after it is over, you are wrong. Most have to reconcile it by understanding they did all they could given the situation, but it still haunts them. Think about the officer who was one of the first on the scene, and who went in thinking all these folks he was seeing could be rescued only to realize, as he said, that none of them got up to go with him because they were all dead.
And BTW, every situation regardless of whether it was handled perfectly or not, presents an opportunity to improve on tactics simply because there is no way to practice every possible scenario because they are all different. It is an unfortunate fact of life that our knowledge of how to handle these situations increases with each tragic event.
Calling these folks liars...folks who are willing to risk their lives to save others...as if they have something to gain from this horrific situation, is really offensive and heartless.
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