The cop in this case did one thing wrong.......one. And he will dearly pay for it.....most likely for life. I don't know him, but I can guess that his concerns are far from his own troubles at the moment, and I would imagine he is wishing he could change a lot of things.
He has/had good reason to pack as a badge never is off duty, and having a weapon around could very well be the life saver it is intended to be........unfortunately, he left the kids in the car with the glove box most likely unlocked......fatal mistake.
Unless you know this guy personally, cowardice doesn't even enter into the picture for me.....can't say one way or the other, and your judgment of what constitutes a coward maybe needs another look.
I would guess this cop will face prosecution, but the sentence won't even begin to touch what he already learned and is about to learn.
Terrible tragedy, and preventable.
BTW, Support does NOT necessarily mean condoning......the first means you care, the second means you agree......I doubt any of the cop's supporters agree with what happened.

Isn't all this quite obvious??