Original subtitles

1-Adam-12, 1-Adam-12,

possible 459, suspects there now.

1-Adam-12, 1-Adam-12,

a 415, man with a gun.

1-Adam-12, no warrant. Lincoln, X-Ray, Ida 483.

1-Adam-12, a 415, fight group with chains and knives.

How about some coffee?

What time is it?

It's twenty after.

Nah, I don't know,

if I have some coffee now, I won't be able to sleep when I get home.

Hmm.

Well, I think I'm gonna have some.

It doesn't bother you, huh?

No.

Well, as long as you're gonna have some,

I might as well have some.

Where do you want to go?

Eddie's, I guess.

The Humpty Dumpty's pretty nice, too.

Okay, the Humpty Dumpty.

Unless you want to go to Eddie's.

Well,

they're both about the same. Eddie's a little closer...

1-Adam-12. We're under fire at Eleventh and Wellborn.

Officers need help!

All units in the vicinity, officer needs help,

1100 block North Wellborn.

Shots fired.

1-Adam-26, handle the call, Code 3.

All units in the vicinity, officer needs help,

1100 block North Wellborn.

Shots fired.

1-Adam-26...

How many?

I only saw one.

You okay?

Yeah, I think I got him, Pete.

Cover me.

7827 Spellman Street.

1739 roger.

1717 stand by.

1725 go ahead.

9984 roger.

What happened?

A guy got shot.

Is he dead?

I don't know. He's over there.

Johnson, put out a Code 4.

Right, Sarge.

Code 4.

Did you check around?

I checked the backyard and both sides of the house, and the alley.

I think he was the only one.

D'Amico! Hurley!

Better check down the street back there. Fairmont.

What's the story?

A sniper, Lieutenant. He fired at us twice. Reed got him.

Who is he? Do you know?

No, I don't.

Officer, who got shot?

I don't know, sir.

Did you see the holes in the car?

I saw the holes. Really something.

Neither of you is hurt. No, sir.

Did either of you touch anything, Malloy?

Yes sir, I picked up the riffle.

I checked to see if he was still alive, he wasn't.

Where's the weapon now?

In the back seat of our car. Right.

It happened so darned fast, Lieutenant,

it was almost over before you had time to think about it.

Okay.

Mac, take him back to the station.

Yes. The ambulance is on the way but I haven't made the other notifications.

I'll take care of that.

Anyone around here have a phone I can use?

Yeah, sure, come on.

Fine, thank you.

What about your keys, Malloy? In your car?

Yeah. Okay.

Reed, what's this I hear about a sniper?

Don't bother him now. He's not going to answer any questions.

I'll tell you about it later.

Just leave him alone. No questions till he talks to homicide.

We'll use the Analytical office.

Well, make yourselves comfortable.

How do you feel, a little shook up?

Yeah, some.

You feel sick or anything? No.

Well, if you do, just give me a chance to get a wastebasket.

No, I'm all right.

I mean it, I'm okay.

What happens now, Sergeant?

Well, a Shooting Team ought to be on the way over from Homicide.

They'll question you.

I'll stay here with you. Thanks.

Hell, you couldn't pry me away.

Now, you will be taken off of field duty for a while.

With the Captain gone, Lieutenant Moore's the Acting Commander.

He'll make it official but I can tell you now it's going to happen.

In a few days, there'll be a Shooting Board.

There'll also be an inquest.

And that's about it.

The Shooting Team, they go over you pretty good?

Well, they want to get it all.

You just tell 'em what happened.

Pete, I didn't see how old he was.

I didn't either.

Hey, Mac. Jerry.

Uh, Bob Calkins.

You got here pretty fast.

Oh yeah, yeah. I don't live very far from here.

You both know Sgt. Miller. He'll be handling this.

Oh, sure they do.

I'll give you the picture.

First of all, this is going to be an interview,

it's not an interrogation or anything.

I'm gonna have to ask you a bunch of questions.

Some of them may get pretty pointed

but I can't help that. We've got to get all the details.

I may ask you some things that'll make you sore.

But if I do, you just let me know.

We'll see if we can get it straightened out.

Okay?

We'll start with names, serials and time on the job.

Malloy, Peter J. 10743.

It'll be 7 years on November 15th.

Reed.

Double 'E'?

Yeah. James A.

13985. I started last July 11th.

You're a probationer, right, Reed?

Yeah.

Now, were both of you involved in the shooting?

Yeah.

What had happened was that his first shot hit the windshield

and Pete slammed on the breaks and I bailed out.

Hold it, we'll get all that later.

Now, what time did you go on duty?

4:00.

Do we have to go back that far? Oh, yeah.

Have you got the log book with you?

No, it's still in the car.

Okay, for now, just tell us, in order,

everything you did on watch.

As close as you can remember.

Well, we checked around the school and the playground.

Then around 4:30 we got a call

to go to the Alameda off-ramp of the Harbor Freeway.

Motor officer had a deuce. Needed transportation.

We cleared from the family dispute about 5 after.

Then we started patrolling the residential area just below the hills.

You're now in the area of the shooting, right?

That's right.

Well, did you get any more calls?

No.

Do you go through there regularly?

Once a night if we can.

Any kind of a routine you got set up?

No set time, no particular route.

We try not to follow a pattern.

He couldn't have known we'd be coming through there.

Have you ever had any trouble before at that same address?

No.

I haven't seen any lights on there for a while.

I think, maybe the people are away.

Would it be okay if I call my wife?

Oh, yeah, yeah. Go ahead.

She's probably worrying about me.

Well,

I've seen them giggle for no good reason,

get sick or just sit there and cry like babies.

But he seems to be taking it okay.

Uh-huh.

I don't think so.

No?

I know him.

It's really working on him.

Hi, honey. It's me.

Yeah.

Uh, I'm gonna be late tonight.

No, I... I don't know what time it'll be so don't wait up for me.

No, no, I'm all right.

Jean, what...

what it is, is tonight I...

Tonight I killed a man.

Where'd they go?

Make some phone calls.

About what? Did they say?

No.

While I was on the... on the phone, did they say anything to you?

We were just talking.

What did you tell them?

I said, we were just talking.

Relax, will you, Jim?

It happened so fast.

If I'd just had time to think about it.

It doesn't work that way.

The guy on the other side gets all the time he wants.

You get maybe half a second, If you're lucky.

That's why they train you.

And lecture you on law and policy till it's coming out of your ears.

You got to do your thinking ahead of time, so you know what to do and what not to do.

It's a lot of responsibility to carry around.

A man's life.

That's right.

I don't know what else I could've done.

Suppose they don't buy it?

They'll be right back. Can I get you anything?

No, thanks.

A sandwich maybe.

No, we're fine, Sarge.

They've ID'd the suspect.

John Michael Harrison, age 16.

Sixteen.

Just a kid.

Yeah, just a kid.

Kid with a big rifle and a yen to kill a cop.

Does that name ring any bells?

No.

6'1", 175, brown and brown?

I don't make him from that.

How about you, Reed?

No.

The people who own the house are named Ridder.

They're out of town.

No connection with Harrison that we can find so far.

He was just a kid.

Why would he do something like that?

I don't know, partner. I just don't know.

We might never find out why he did it.

All we may ever know is that it happened.

It sure enough happened.

Let's get on with it.

You were going down the street.

Eleventh and Wellborn.

How fast were you going?

Twenty-five.

Approximately what time was it when he got that first shot off at you?

We'd just looked at our watches. It was twenty after.

That's close enough.

I suppose you stomped on the brakes, huh?

I just about put my foot through the floor.

Well, this might get a little complicated.

I'll take you one at a time. You go ahead, Malloy.

I got the car stopped and got on the radio

just about the time Reed jumped.

I reported that we were under fire and needed help.

I was getting the shotgun out at the same time.

Then I bailed out the left side of the car.

That's about the time his second shot came, I guess.

Yeah, 'cause I remember hearing Reed fire back.

How many times? Can you recall?

Two or three. It happened so fast I can't be sure.

It was two.

Then, I took cover behind the hood. And it was all over.

You didn't see the suspect at all?

After he was on the ground, yeah. Not before that.

Okay, we'll go with you, Reed.

Uh, Calkins, are we going too fast for you?

No, it's fine.

I bailed out of the car just before it stopped.

And saw some movement over by the corner of the house.

Now, where were you?

Right by the car door.

And that's which corner of the house?

It would be the, uh, the northeast corner.

Uh, I didn't see anything at first

and... and then he moved, stepping out in the clear.

And I saw the flash as he fired.

Now, that's his second shot, right?

That's right.

And you are now getting out of the car.

That's right.

Do you have any idea where that second shot went?

No.

Well, it went through the door and into the seat. I saw it later.

Did you observe any other shots from him?

No.

And you fired twice? That's right.

You're sure of that?

Yeah.

Sergeant.

Who's that?

The area inspector.

Bob.

Pete,

you've been through this before.

Was it this bad?

Do you get used to it?

No, you don't. You try to learn to live with it.

I don't know.

Can we talk about it later?

Any time you like, Jim.

Sergeant, will you secure that door, please?

Yes sir.

You understand that, don't you, Sergeant?

Yes sir.

Did you reload your gun, Reed?

No, sir.

All right. I'd like for you to unload it for me now.

What kind of ammo do you use?

158 grain Western.

Can I see 'em?

Looks like you fired three times.

Well, I...

I could've sworn it was only twice.

You can reload.

I don't understand it.

It happens all the time. You were excited.

He'll probably want you to go down to the lab and test fire it for him.

Yes, sir.

What's going on out there, Sarge?

Newspaper people.

Are they here?

Well, they sure are.

All right, let's go again.

Are you familiar enough with the area to draw us a diagram of it?

Just a general idea of the layout,

the distances, and all the ground you covered.

Yeah, I can try.

Between the two of us, we can probably come pretty close.

Hmm, okay, and... and that distance there

between the car and the corner of the house?

That's about, uh, 60 feet.

I made it a little less.

Did the suspect say anything? Yell at you?

No.

Did you yell at him before you fired?

Like, uh, "Hold it, police officers"?

There wasn't time.

You didn't identify yourselves?

No.

There's a street light here at Eleventh and Wellborn.

He probably spotted us going under it.

Saw it was a black-and-white.

That would give him 7 or 8 seconds to line up on us.

I see.

Uh, Reed, you said there wasn't time to yell at him.

That's right.

And you fired right back.

Yup.

Was that an automatic reaction?

Just about.

Well, did you think about it at all?

I don't know what there was to think about.

Well, for instance, did you have a clear field of fire at him?

I suppose. Yeah, I think so.

Now, you hit him twice. Do you have any idea where your third shot went?

No.

No idea what's behind him,

or alongside of him there?

Well, I think there's a wall back there.

You're not sure? Pretty sure.

Do you know what kind of a wall it was?

Of course not! How am I supposed to know that?

What're you getting at? Take it easy.

What am I supposed to do? Run up and look at the wall before I start shooting?

It's a stupid question.

Maybe, but I've got to ask 'em.

Now, what about people? Do you remember any lights in these houses back here?

I fired back at him. Now, what else could I do?

What if he'd shot at you from a... a school ground during recess?

What would you have done?

Now wait a minute. What would you have done?

Held my fire. Tried to get around to the other side of the car.

Hung in there, until we got help.

You could have done that this time, couldn't you? I guess so, maybe.

But you chose to fire instead. Now, why?

Because he was trying to kill us.

He wasn't in any school yard,

and his next shot could've killed either of us.

What're you trying to make out of this?

You said this was just going to be an interview.

How about taking a break, huh?

I can't stop shaking.

There's another team out at the scene.

We talked to them over the phone a little while ago.

There is a wall back there, Reed. Concrete block.

Your third shot hit that.

Why didn't you tell me that?

We've got to know what you thought.

Not what I told you.

Go on relax a little bit.

Feel like a darned fool, I can't stop shaking.

Can I get you anything? A sandwich?

Some soup? Aspirin?

Six dancing girls?

No, just leave me alone a minute. I'll... I'll be okay.

You know, um, he's one of our real good young officers.

A thing like this, I don't know how he's going to come out of it.

I'm sorry we had to shake him up.

Well, it wasn't the questioning. You had to do it.

Sooner or later he'd ask himself the same questions, anyway.

He'll have to work it out for himself.

How are you doing?

Okay.

Look, I know this is a little rough

but believe me, I wouldn't like anything better

than to tell you to just go on home

and we'll attack it when you feel better.

I just can't do that and I think you know why.

You're a police officer.

Any time you fire that gun of yours out on the street,

no matter if it's just an accident

and you blow the bottom of your holster out,

you're going to get questioned.

You're going to go before a Shooting Board.

We got to know exactly what happened, right or wrong.

Now, we can't settle for,

"This is probably the way it was."

Or, "This is what I think happened."

We've got to know exactly.

If it takes 10 hours or it takes 10 weeks.

You know, we get started when it's fresh in your mind.

Can we get back to it now?

Yeah.

Malloy.

Now, I want to understand clearly

what you saw when you fired.

And just think about it carefully.

Put everything out of your mind that you might have picked up since then

and tell me what it was you saw when you started shooting.

Well, at first I didn't, I didn't see anything

and then I saw him move.

He was coming out from behind some bushes.

Hmm?

Yeah, well, there were some bushes there, Pete.

Okay, maybe I missed 'em.

Could have been a shadow, I'm not sure.

In any case, he was concealed when you bailed out of the car.

Yes, sir.

And then he moved. How well could you see him?

Not too well.

For instance, could you have given a description of him?

No.

What he was wearing? Could you tell if it was a man or a woman?

I'm afraid not. How old he was?

No.

Was he silhouetted at all?

Yeah, sort of.

Could you see the rifle?

I had an impression of something in his hands.

So, at that moment, for all you knew,

it could've been somebody running out to see what the noise was about?

I guess. But I didn't fire until I saw the muzzle flash.

I see. When you fired, was your point of aim the muzzle flash or the figure?

At that range, Sergeant...

I know it sounds like I'm beating it to death but I want to clarify what you say.

I saw a man shooting at me. And I shot back.

Now that's all I know.

Phew.

Either of you got anything to add to it?

Okay.

Is that all, Sergeant?

Well, for here.

Got to go back out to the scene now

and reconstruct the whole thing. Shoot some pictures.

Reed,

understand anything I tell you is unofficial.

But I know you're sweating this out.

As far as I can see you've got nothing to worry about.

Looks to me like you're in the clear.

Thank you.

If that's any help to you.

Yeah, some.

Oh, hold it. Hold it, fellas. How about a picture?

Who's the other fella with him?

That's his partner, Officer Peter Malloy.

Well, how was he involved?

He was on the scene at the time.

Look over here, will you?

Officer Reed, could you give us your reaction?

No, he has nothing to say. I'll answer any questions.

Where are you taking him?

Back to the scene.

To reenact the shooting?

Reconstruct it, yes.

Look, Lieutenant, is it ok if we come along?

All right, but you won't get very close.

Here, Reed. You may like this.