And many of those who don’t get that have never been tested to know how they would react - easy to rail about another being a coward if one has never been faced with running into a hot zone.....but I see a lot have “weighed in”.
Part of me says we should not stand in judgment of this deputy. But then I think back to that story of the coach, Aaron Feis, who threw himself in front of students at the cost of his own life. Imagine if, instead, Feis had held kids in front of himself, using them as human shields.
That is, in essence, what Deputy Scot Peterson did. He allowed kids to die so that he might live.
Being a cop and thinking one has what it takes can be different than reality when the SHTF....I agree it was his job/duty and he failed - just saying there are probably a lot railing against him, who think they would do oh-so better and even picture themselves running in and wiping the guy out, who might very well do exactly what he did if faced with the actual situation.