At least two SWAT team snipers with their rifles were on the scene, but were refused permission to fire. The stories given as to why ranged from fear that if mortrally wounded, either surviving perpetrator might try to finish off one of the exposed wounded cops to the liklihood that the third gunman [maybe a 4th] was a fellow LAPD officer known to the supervisors, and with the armour on, they couldn't tell which was which.
-archy-/-