Some people here and commenting elsewhere seem pretty glib about that. Have they ever had to try and disarm an individual with a knife? I have.
Three times in my life I have had someone pull a knife on me; none of those times did I want to kill or severely injure the assailant.
When I was in my 20’s, I seized him in an arm-lock, and let my colleagues take the knife from his immobilized hand.
When I was in my 30’s, and when I was in my 40’s, I bluffed and told them to put the weapon away before someone got hurt. It worked then; I could be pretty intimidating at the time. I doubt it would have worked with a delusional, suicidal individual, as in this case.
So what were the Campus Police supposed to do? Try to disarm him, and probably get cut? Come up behind him and knock him on the head with a billy club?
I saw a movie where a guy did a flying back kick and took out the knife. I bet he flew 30 feet. They could try that.