5-minute delay crucial in Tech shooting

Virginia State Police Superintendent W. Steven Flaherty, gestures how he would have "surrendered" to the gunman Seung-Hui Cho during a press conference at Virginia Tech...

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Some police and security experts question the five-minute delay, saying authorities should have charged straight into the melee.

"You don't have time to wait," said Aaron Cohen, president of IMS Security of Los Angeles, who has trained SWAT teams around the country since 2003. "You don't have time to pre-plan a response. Even if you have a few guys, you go."

After the Columbine massacre in 1999, police around the country adopted new policies for so-called "active shooters." Police would no longer respond to emergencies such as school shootings by surrounding a building and waiting for the SWAT team.

Instead, the first four officers rush into the building and attempt to immediately end the threat. This system was used to end a 2003 school hostage standoff in Spokane, Wash.

At Columbine, no officers entered the building until about 40 minutes after the first 911 call from the school. Critics have said that decision might have contributed to the death of a teacher who bled to death from gunshot wounds.

Tom Corrigan, former member of a terrorism task force and a retired New York City detective, said five minutes seems like a long time when gunfire is being heard, but he added it's tough to second-guess officers in such a chaotic situation.

"I would have liked to have seen them bust down the door, smash windows, go around to another door, do everything to get inside fast," he said. "But it's a tough call because these officers put their lives on the line on a daily basis and I am sure they did the best they could." (YEAH...RIGHT).....

Al Baker, a former 25-year veteran in the New York Police Department, echoed that sentiment, but said sometimes officers have to do whatever is necessary to enter a building — whether it's throwing a rock through a window or driving a car through the door. He said the crucial issue is ensuring that officers have the proper training and equipment.

"This is a seminal moment for law enforcement as far as I'm concerned because it proves that minutes are critical," he said.