Because you never know when some jackass wants to go on a shooting rampage in hopes that police will kill him.
Note, however, that he didn’t actually wait around for the cops to show up and kill him. Nor did he try to go out in a blaze of glory when the police finally caught up with him came to pick him up after he confessed to a FedEx worker
Also, this wasn’t what I’d call a “thug bar” where you’d expect drug-related violence to break out. We see that all the time. This was a sports bar filled with college kids. That kinda kills the “just don’t go to those kind of bars” argument that our opponents kept trotting out.
No good info on what kind of weapon the shooter used. The press is reporting it was an “assault rifle” but I’d also seen reports that paramedics claimed it had created small-caliber wounds. My guess is a Ruger 10/22 with a 30rd mag. That would explain the high number hits, but zero fatalities.
He also shot someone about an hour before this, and set two fires at his former place of employment.
Oh, and just in case it comes up? He was a prohibited person. Shocking, I know.