If the gunman kept the boy the Police would not have been so indiscriminate in their use of force. However, the gunman being alone in the home permitted them t

If the gunman kept the boy the Police would not have been so indiscriminate in their use of force. However, the gunman being alone in the home permitted them to be as indiscriminate as they were, presumably to keep the police out of harms way of entering the premises.