Yes. And "almost a quarter mile" is perhaps somewhere between 300 and 400 yards, not an unreasonable distance for a reconnoiter, if you know nothing about what's going on inside.
I know virtually nothing about the entire situation. I'd like to think I would have charged in as soon as I arrived.
But I got no idea as to this guy's thinking or the info he and the other LEOs were getting.
They knew someone is shooting up the school.