The Police's Huge Mistake
They had ample opportunities to take him out during the daylight hours when he was in the bus in plain view not near any of the hostages. It was kind of insane for them not to take him out then.
Another huge mistake in my opinion: the cops should have cleared the entire area of everyone, journalists included, or should I say especially journalists, except for the minimum number of police necessary to monitor the situation. The whole circus atmosphere just escalates the emotions, shrinking the chances of a rational, peaceful resolution.
It should be against the law to use "LOL" unless you really did LOL!