The rest of the team was pissed off. A leader is followed, a rogue cowboy leaves everybody else behind and without the information that they need to do their jobs.
But I agree that it is difficult to say if it is one or the other from the outside. That is why it is so important for management to be present and to have direct communication with all the development team. "Lazy" management tends to trust whoever screams the loudest instead of expending the time to fully understand the situation and listening to everyone involved.
You are right. With just my description, it is not possible for anyone to know if it was one or the other. And in fact, it was more grey that I have described. Taking into account all the information I gathered, I still believe that it occurred as I described.
I'm confused why you seem to be so sure that in the anecdote you shared, this isn't exactly what was going on. Could it be you have some unconscious bias against the person who took that action, leading you to see them as a rogue cowboy instead of a wise leader?