My nephew is a cop in a large southwestern city (and, by the way, a Medal of Valor awardee), and we were talking about this today. He was amazed that any cop on the scene would wait around for orders under those circumstances. He assures me that he'd go in right away, whether or not he was the first on the scene, and he'd engage the shooter. He says his department's policy permits this, and doesn't require an officer to wait for backup, or orders from superiors, when lives are at risk, particularly children's lives.
PS My nephew has won two shooting engagements with armed perps in the six years he's been a cop.
