What do you think the police should have done differently in this particular situation (it's an interesting thought exercise)?

Also, if you haven't done it, there's a really sobering mental exercise that you might want to try.

Median police response times in the United States are about ten minutes for violent crimes. 90th percentile is something like an hour.

Don't know the breakdowns beyond that, but I would also imagine that there's a sharp wealth divide in response times.

Imagine that a bunch of large, angry men are trying to break into your home to kill you. Set a timer for ten minutes. Wait. As you do, imagine what's happening, for those ten minutes, because that's how long it will take for police to arrive.