Chapter 439 Trace
Rogier Supermarket.
There was still a large amount of blood left at the entrance of the supermarket, and a cordon had been pulled up around it, and the surrounding area was still full of people. Police, reporters, family members of the victim, and onlookers, the entire road was crowded.
After learning about the shooting incident, Director Frank rushed to the supermarket immediately and checked the situation inside the supermarket. In order to avoid damaging the scene, he did not bring too many people into the supermarket.
He came here not to investigate the case, but to stabilize the hearts of the citizens of Los Angeles.
Frank walked around the supermarket, his two thick eyebrows were tightly frowned, and his serious face was a little heavier.
He walked out of the supermarket, and the crowd immediately became agitated.
A female reporter shouted, "Director Frank, I'm a reporter from NBC TV station. Have the police caught the murderer?"
Another black male reporter asked, "Director Frank, how many people were killed in this shooting?"
"Director Frank, the citizens of Los Angeles are panicking now, can you say a few words?"
Frank stopped in his tracks, with a heavy tone, "I am very sorry about this incident, and everyone does not want this to happen.
I will send the most elite police force to investigate this case and catch the gunman as quickly as possible.
Let Los Angeles restore the peace of the past, and give the victims and their families an explanation.
No matter who the murderer is, as long as he dares to kill in Los Angeles, he will be punished by law. "
The black male reporter asked again, "Director Frank, there are rumors that this is a massacre against black people. What do you think?"
“The case just happened and we haven’t had time to investigate it yet, but the majority of the victims are indeed African-American.
What I want to say is that no matter black or white, they are children of God and should not be treated like this.
So, I ask the citizens of Los Angeles to pray for them and to give strength to their family and friends who are grieving. After Frank finished speaking, there were sporadic applause around him.
At this time, the first squadron has also rushed to the scene.
Xiao Hei leaned in front of Luke and whispered, "That's really good, I can't say that."
Jackson laughed, "So you are not the director."
Xiao Hei responded lightly, "A rookie."
Luke ignored the bickering between the two, and glanced around. The current crowd is more than the people in the supermarket. If the suspect shoots back, it will be a real massacre.
He felt that the director's speech should be over, and now is not a good opportunity to show his closeness to the people.
Frank seemed to realize this too, finished his speech, and was about to turn around and leave.
At this moment, a black woman rushed over, "Director Frank, please don't go."
"What's the matter, madam."
The black woman rushed outside the cordon, with an anxious look on her face, and shouted incoherently, "I am a black mother, and I ran out of olive oil. While I was making breakfast...
My son went to the supermarket to buy olive oil...and still hasn't returned.
I...I hope you can find him. "
Frank stopped, looked at the woman who was panicking because of worry, and comforted, "Ma'am, what's your son's name?"
"Antoine Powell."
"May I have your name?"
"Sasha Powell, I'm a single mother, I can't live without Antoine... woo woo..." the black woman began to cry in a low voice.
Faced with this situation, no amount of consolation would be empty words. Frank glanced around and waved to Luke who was not far away.
Luke came closer, "Director Frank."
"You should have heard what this lady said. His son is missing and needs the help of the police."
Luke said, "I will do my best."
Frank turned to the black woman on the side and said, "Ma'am, this is the captain of the Robbery and Murder Division of the Detective Bureau and one of the best detectives in Los Angeles.
You can tell him about your son's situation, and I believe he can handle it properly. "
Luke made a please gesture, "Ma'am, please come with me, we need to talk privately."
Frank said to everyone, "Everyone, this is the end of today's interview, thank you."
After speaking, Frank walked a few steps to catch up with Luke and patted him on the shoulder, "Luke, you are responsible for this shooting.
If you need support, you can contact me or Rhett, you know my number. "
Luke nodded, "I will."
Frank left the scene with several police officers.
The deputy captain looked at the scene in front of him, and he admitted that he was a little envious.
He is also the best police officer in Los Angeles. He is capable and experienced. Otherwise, he would not be rehired at such an age.
It is said that people will look at it more openly when they are older, and their temper will become better and better. Why hasn't he changed?
Sometimes, he also doesn't like his bad temper.
I also thought about changing it.
However, when it comes to critical moments, I can't help it, and I don't want to bear it.
The deputy team sighed a little helplessly, forget it, let it be like this, even if I change it now, no one will believe it.
Actually, even he himself didn’t believe it.
The trust of Reid and Frank is also a kind of pressure for Luke.
Frank handed over the black woman to himself in front of reporters and many citizens, so Luke had to inquire about it himself.
Luke looked at the black woman and asked her name again, "Ma'am, what's your name?"
"Sasha Powell."
"Ma'am, do you live around here?"
"Yes, I live in the Antoine community on the east side, only two streets away from here."
Luke had some impression of the name, "What's your son's name?"
"Antoine Powell."
"His name is the same as the community's name."
“Yes, we lived in this community when he was born, and this is the first and only house I bought, and it has a special meaning to us.”
Sasha Powell’s voice was a little anxious, and he choked up, “This morning, I ran out of olive oil when I was cooking, and my son went out to buy olive oil, but he never went back.
At first I thought he was just playing, but after seeing the news and knowing that there was a shooting here, I rushed over immediately. "
"Are you sure he came to this supermarket?"
"Yes, we usually come to this supermarket to buy things."
"How old is your son?"
"He is ten years old this year."
"How long has he been out of contact, and when did he leave home?"
"Around seven thirty in the morning.
This supermarket is the earliest to open in the vicinity, and it opens at 7 o'clock every day, so their business is also very good, and the price is relatively cheap. They often hold activities, and the neighbors around will come here to buy things. "
Luke wrote down in his notebook that the door opened at 7:30, which is indeed uncommon in Los Angeles, and it is still a black community.
"Has your son brought a cell phone?"
"No, I don't want him to have a phone too early...
God, I regret it now, I should have bought him a cell phone. "
"Do you have a picture of him?"
"Yes, I have his photo." Sasha Powell hurriedly took out the photo with his mobile phone.
Luke looked at the photo on the phone and took a photo, "Ma'am, tell me your contact information. We will notify you as soon as we have news about your son."
Sasha Powell handed a business card to Luke, "I'm not going anywhere, I'll just wait here."
Luke said to the female police officer on the side, "Take this lady to the side for a rest."
"Yes, sir."
Jackson stared closely at the photo and sighed, "He might be one of the victims...just a kid.
I must catch that **** with my own hands. "
Luke also felt this possibility, "Jackson, go collect and verify the information of all the victims, I want to know their details."
"Ramon Jenny, go visit the surrounding citizens and look for witnesses."
"Others follow me into the scene to investigate."
"Yes, sir."
In fact, the entrance of the supermarket was already the scene of the murder. The gunman shot three people at the entrance of the supermarket. At this time, there were still blood stains at the entrance of the supermarket, but the victim could no longer be seen.
Either have been sent to the hospital for treatment, or have become a corpse and been carried away.
Luke searched around the entrance of the supermarket, saw a car surrounded by a cordon, and asked Xiao Hei beside him, "Is that the car driven by the gunman?"
Although Xiao Hei has watched the whole live broadcast, he has not seen the whole picture of the car. He only knows that the suspect is driving a Honda sedan. He said, "Judging from the brand and location of the car, it is likely to be the car driven by the shooter."
Luke walked around the car and looked around. It was a black Honda car. He searched briefly, but found no documents or valuable clues, "Potter, check the situation of this car. tell me."
"Yes, sir."
Luke walked towards the supermarket in the direction of the car, as if repeating the gunman's killing trajectory.
Xiao Hei added from the side, "The murderer was very vicious. He fired several shots at the people at the entrance of the supermarket, and then went straight into the supermarket."
Luke nodded and entered the supermarket.
He is no stranger to this supermarket. He has seen it on live broadcasts and news before, but this sense of reality and impact is much greater. A corpse in a pool of blood.
People at the scene are used to killing and corpses, but this large-scale public killing is still shocking.
An idea came to Luke's mind, whether the shooter was a patient who escaped from a mental hospital, or had a history of serious mental illness, which normal people can't do.
Don't say kill people, even if it is replaced by common chickens and dogs, it is difficult for ordinary people to do it.
Luke looked at the camera on the roof that was damaged by the gunshot. Regardless of whether this person is mentally ill or not, his IQ should be fine.
Not far away, the voice of the deputy team sounded, "Luke, I found something here."
Luke followed the sound and saw that the deputy team was standing next to a row of metal cabinets. The upper lockers were smaller and the lower row of lockers were larger. One of the lockers was opened, and there was a pile of equipment.
The deputy team squatted down and took out things one by one, two rifles, one pistol, body armor, gloves, helmet, skull mask, a black coat and a pair of black trousers, these items crowded the locker Be full.
The deputy team said, "These should be the gunman's equipment. He probably took off his equipment and pretended to be an ordinary guest and escaped."
Luke said, "The gunman did not drive the previous car, and there may be other means of transportation."
The deputy team held his chest with his left hand and touched his chin with his right hand, "I think it is necessary to find and verify the identity of every customer who escaped from the supermarket."
Luke said casually, "This task is entrusted to you."
This direction of investigation is no problem. If you are lucky, you may indeed find the whereabouts of the shooter.
However, there will be some difficulties in the investigation process. First of all, the gunman entered the supermarket fully armed and wrapped tightly from head to toe. No one knew his true face.
Second, the gunman deliberately broke the camera so that the police could not find it through surveillance.
Third, there was a panic around the supermarket at that time, and customers were running away in the chaos. Many people's memories of that crisis situation were confused.
In summary, it may take some time to troubleshoot this shooter.
Luke also checked the gunman's equipment. The gunman was wearing gloves and did not leave any fingerprints, and there were no special marks on the equipment. He could only hand over the equipment to the technical team for processing, and maybe new discoveries could be made.
Luke continued to investigate in the supermarket. The supermarket is divided into upper and lower floors, with an area of more than 2,000 square meters. In addition, there are a lot of goods and the site is relatively messy. Surveying the site is also a big project.
The corpses of several victims who died on the spot were still in place, and the forensic doctor was too busy with so many people dead at once. Luke walked to each corpse to check, there were men, women, old people, and young people. They all have one thing in common, black people.
Judging from the existing evidence and clues, the motive and method of committing the crime in this case are not difficult to guess.
The murderer is likely to be a white supremacist racist. Because he hates black people so much, he came to the supermarket in the black community to carry out the massacre.
Luke speculated that the killer should be young. He based his judgment on two points. The voice of the first murderer was immature, like a young man's voice.
The second point is that the gunman chose to live broadcast the killing, which is more like the modus operandi of young people.
After the massacre in the supermarket, the gunman lost his equipment and escaped disguised as an ordinary customer.
Thinking of this, Luke's expression changed slightly. The gunman was not found in the supermarket, but the clothes discarded by the gunman were found. Everyone thought the gunman had escaped; the murderer would make a fuss, and probably threw the clothes on his body in the supermarket. The purpose is to make people think that he ran away.
But in fact, he did not run away, he just hid in a corner of the supermarket. The size of the supermarket is not small, and it is not impossible to hide someone.
However, this is just a pure guess, without any basis, and Luke is not too sure.
But as a case leader, he must take all the circumstances of the case into consideration. It doesn't matter if he guesses wrong, but if he guesses right and doesn't do it, then there will be a big problem.
Luke snapped his fingers and told Xiao Hei beside him, "Marcus, take a few people and search the supermarket carefully to see if there are any other survivors or suspicious persons." tone of voice.
Xiao Heixin understood, "Do you think the gunman hasn't left?"
"I just want to make sure it's safe here."
"OK, as you wish."
Luke called Xiao Hei from behind again, "Be careful."
Marcus laughed, "Don't worry, I wish I could meet that kid and kill him with one shot."
"Bang bang." There was a sound from the roof.
Xiao Hei immediately took out his pistol and looked at the roof.
"Boom." There was another sound, but it was much softer.
Luke kept staring at the roof, roughly determined the source of the sound through two noises, made a gesture to Xiao Hei, and pointed to the ventilation duct on the roof.
There is a silver metal ventilation pipe on the top of the supermarket. One end is outside the supermarket and the other end is inside the supermarket. It is not far from the shelves in the fruit section. You can climb into the ventilation pipe by stepping on the fruit shelves.
Luke and Xiao Hei approached and checked lightly. There is an iron net at the entrance of the ventilation duct that can be removed, but the position near the exit is U-shaped, and the inside of the duct cannot be seen. dangerous.
Xiao Hei shouted, "lapd, we have found you and know that you are in the ventilation duct. Now there are police inside and outside the supermarket, you can't escape, come out and surrender immediately, otherwise we will shoot."
The ventilation duct is very long, and Xiao Hei can't determine which section the person is hiding in, so he can only use shouting to force the other party to surrender.
He didn't get a response, though, to little effect.
Luke took off a smoke bomb from the side of the body armor, "Hey, I know you are in the ventilation duct, if you don't come out again, I will throw a smoke bomb in." Luke looked at Xiao Hei and said, "You Go find a cardboard box and block the vents."
Xiao Hei looked at the smoke bomb in Luke's hand, and was stunned. You can still play like this. Why are you so bad, I like it!
Little Hei frantically went to find a cardboard box.
After a while, a voice came from the ventilation duct, "NONONO, please don't shoot, I don't have a weapon, I'm not a shooter, I'm a good man."
A childish voice sounded from the ventilation duct.
"Then climb out quickly." Luke did not relax his vigilance, still pointing his gun at the ventilation duct.
Other team members also came over and surrounded the vent in a semicircle.
"Bang bang..." There was another sound on the roof, it should be someone climbing in the ventilation duct.
After a while, someone slid down the ventilation duct.
"lapd!"
"Hands up, hold still!"
The surrounding police officers were armed with guns.
A ten-year-old boy raised his hands, with tears on his face, and fear and anxiety in his eyes, "I don't have a weapon, please don't hurt me! Don't shoot! Don't shoot!"
Luke saw the picture of the boy and asked, "What's your name?"
"Antoine Powell."
"What's your mother's name?"
"Sasha Powell."
"Why are you in the supermarket?"
“I’m here to buy olive oil.”
All matched, Luke comforted in a low voice, "Don't be nervous, the shooter is no longer in the supermarket. We are the police, and we are here to save you."
Antoine Powell nodded quickly, crying, "I want to find my mother..."
"Of course." Luke beckoned to Xiao Hei, and whispered, "Search him, and then take him to see his mother, and you will be in charge of taking notes."
Xiao Hei glanced at Antoine Powell, "I see."
I am working hard to save the manuscript, and the update time will be stable once the manuscript is saved.
(end of this chapter)