The biggest mistake early on was making that school cop the "incident commander".
While he would be the incident commander initially he should have been relieved very quickly.
Sounds like some very serious training issues with that department. Lack of planning and no training scenarios. Just small town cops who at the most write a ticket or bust a kid smoking pot. This, way outside their wheelhouse.
This monster did not just spring out of the sea like Godzilla. This monster grew directly under the nose of parents, teachers and community.
