Police didn't go inside because they were scared of dying.

Were they cowards? Yes. Does calling them cowards solve the problem? No.

Robots would actually solve the problem.

In tech we have a culture of blaming the process, not people. Now, we should definitely blame the Uvalde officers for their cowardice. But we should also think about how we could improve the process around dealing with active shooters and officers who simply aren't brave enough when push comes to shove. This was not the first time, and nor will it be the last time, when innocent lives die because of afraid law enforcement officers. Let's solve this problem at the process layer.

So police officers should just carry out their duty and charge with reckless abandon toward the business end of an AR-15 like automatons? Wait...

Yeah, if we go down this path, then maybe (just maybe), introducing robots with guns isn't really the best approach.

Even a robot with a fake gun is better than no robot. If the shooter is distracted by the robot then the police have a better chance to take him out.

In addition to fake gun the robot should have a camera too, so that police can see him.

Dazzler, bean bag rounds, pepper spray, camera.