Im sure there is grief afterwards, but there is also grief and pain from over eating and overdrinking: some consequences are very hard to measure at the point of decision. Specially when its related to your own survival.

The ghost of a 1% danger vs a 0% consequence makes it a pretty rational decision. Bear in mind that criminals, even those with hostages, dont make the decision to shoot so fast: they know that if you shoot the hostage you die or get captured immediately. So the criminals do respond to the punishment. Why wouldnt cops?