A couple of things come to mind. One, he may be getting his family out before he flees. This may be the case if the military has told him it will not support him. He can only hope that the security forces will keep the lid on a boiling cauldron. If so, maybe his family will return. Two, he may be getting his family out before he launches a brutal crackdown. This may be the case if the military has told him it will unreservedly support him and he knows that the security forces will succeed, by whatever means necessary, to keep the lid on a boiling cauldron. That option means killing a lot of people.