We are both speculating. I'm giving the cops the benefit of the doubt and your ???? I've spent a lot of time up in those mountains. The biggest fear of anyone who lives/works up there are fires, especially at night, it is blacker than black once the sun goes down. You can't even see the roads at night and trying to evacuate people in those conditions is dangerous in itself, expecially after a snow storm if there is black ice.
I think a 10,000 man, ten day manhunt, four dead people and a four hour fire fight was a pretty long wait. Wait for it to get dark and risk him escaping and risking more lives?
I'm not a cop. I don't know if they felt they had better choices. I also don't know who was calling the shots. It wasn't just the sheriff/police up there but the State and FBI was too. However, one thing was for sure, Dorner made it clear he was not going to survive his vendetta and was going to take out as many police and their families that he could. I guess this is what can happen when the government declares you a domestic terrorist. Dorner and the people who were up there were lucky that Obama didn't send in his drones with hellfire missiles.