Reminds me of the coward in “Saving Private Ryan” there in the stairwell.
Seems possibly with 30+ years on the force that this guy was not going to do something that might kill him and ruin his retirement plans. In combat units in the field, short timers tried to never walk point, go on listening posts or ambush patrol.
The scene makes me cringe. The Nazi and the GI had an understanding just like the school and police. One would think outside the typical hysterics of the gun grabbing left post Sandy Hook, society would be prepared to handle this again. It's no coincidence that shooting massacres will keep happening because there is no real intent to ever solve the real issues.