Original subtitles

5 LincoIn 9 eastbound on 6th

heading towards Front in pursuit of white oIdsmobiIe cutIass.

Roger, 5 LincoIn. charIes Edward 12 is three minutes ETA.

Box in the suspect and hoId the perimeter.

copy, charIes Edward 12.

- Listen, you heard what he said. - And l'm not buying it.

- It's a retaIiation shooting. - Then Iet it happen.

Let 'em kiII each other. Bang bang bang, and we come in and cIean up.

- End of story. - That's exactIy what they expect you to do.

I can't beIieve you're Iistening to his shit. He's a cI.

- What difference does it make? - He's a paid criminaI informant.

- He'II say anything to cover his own ass. - Fuck you, man.

His handIer was shot dead tonight. How do we know he didn't set up the hit?

- That's buIIshit, man. - You saw the sheet.

This kid MichaeI Pips had priors.

He found out Jacobs was undercover,

picked up a 9mm and took matters into his own hands.

- You're wrong! You're wrong! - He didn't set up shit, man.

There was somebody eIse in that park.

Somebody pIanned it on the other side - - one of your boys, man.

You witness this?

How am l gonna know your boy was an undercover?

When he found out, he freaked. He wasn't about to kill no cop.

coupIe minutes Iater, somebody came in, cut Jacobs down.

- Now he's trying to pin it on a rivaI gang. - Who was the shooter?

I'm not saying another word tiII I speak to the DA.

He doesn't know shit.

Look, ourjob is to stop this from escaIating.

He kiIIed a cop! He's got a target painted on him

from every officer in the field right now.

charIes Edward 12, be advised:

suspect vehicIe is pinned, but there is movement within the perimeter.

Shots firing! Shots firing!

officers need backup! 38th Front Street...

Put your head down!

Down down - - get down!

Keep your head down! come on.

come on! Quick with your Ieg!

come on, man. come on.

Hey hey. Hey!

Freeze!

Tino, hey! come on, breathe!

Suspect down! Suspect is down!

Breathe!

cover me! cover me!

Breathe! come on!

Fuck.

We're clear! Need an EMT!

Shepherd!

- Where's our paramedics? - Shepherd!

- Rescue 1 -6, we have two - - repeat two GSWs. - Shepherd?

- What is your ETA? - Was he hit? Is it Pips?

No.

What's his status, Detective?

He's gone.

SWAT's on their way.

- What's their ETA? - They're stiII 10 minutes out.

You teII them there's pIaincIothes within the perimeter.

- Whoa. What are you thinking? - l'm going in.

Hey, wait for SWAT, man. We don't know how many shooters are in the vicinity.

This kid doesn't have 10 minutes, all right?

Shepherd, I can't Iet you do this, man.

Hey, you want to stay, Briggs, you stay.

HoId on!

You're not seriously going in there, are you?

He's my partner. Listen, you're our eyes and ears.

You maintain radio siIence unIess you see movement on our position.

- You got it? - Yep.

- They know we're here. Be smart. - AII right.

Movement, tree Iine!

We're sitting ducks out here, man!

- cover me. - No! They're trying to pin us down,

trying to beat us to Michael. We need to make a move to the warehouse.

What?

Hey, Iisten to me.

Point every Iight you've got on that tree line.

Every light you've got on that tree Iine right now.

- 10-4. - Good. Don't stop. Keep those Iights moving.

You hear me? Keep those Iights moving.

You ready?

- Let's go! - Fuckin' crazy.

- clear left! - cIear right!

Moving center.

Down down down down!

PoIice officers! Drop the gun!

Man, I didn't do this!

l didn't kill that fuckin' cop!

Drop the fucking gun, MichaeI. We have you surrounded.

MichaeI, I'm coming out. MichaeI!

Michael, hey. Hey, I'm unarmed.

- l just want to talk. - I didn't kiII that fuckin' cop.

Man, I didn't do this.

We're here to heIp you.

Put the weapon down, MichaeI, now!

Hey hey, eyes on me, MichaeI.

Eyes on me! okay?

Tell your boy to put his gun down.

That's not gonna happen, Michael.

Everybody, calm down! Just Iower your weapon, Briggs.

- No way. - Do it, motherfucker!

- No way. - MichaeI, we're not here to hurt you.

I promise. I give you my word: we're not here to hurt you.

- Let's just talk. - He's one of them, isn't he?

Just you and me. No, he's not.

- He's fuckin' one of them, isn't he? - No, he's not.

He's been with me all night.

We're here to get you out. You understand me?

I just need you to teII me what you saw tonight.

cops! I saw fuckin' cops!

- You saw cops on 6th Street? - That's what l said.

okay. AII right.

Back it down, Detective.

How many cops did you see, Michael?

I saw three of 'em!

AII right. You saw three cops. can you identify them?

Stand down, Detective! Lower your weapon!

Look at him, Michael. He's Iowering his gun.

All right? He's Iowering his weapon.

Lower your weapon, Briggs.

Now I need you to teII me you can identify these cops.

Yeah. I seen 'em before.

okay. AII right. That's good.

- Who eIse knows about this, MichaeI? - Man, you tell me.

Hey! Hey, Iisten to me.

If there's somebody out there that can back up your story,

we need to get them into protective custody.

Look, we've got a car standing by.

AII right? We're not gonna bring you in here.

We're gonna take you to the feds - - the FBI, MichaeI.

They're gonna take you into protective custody.

No one's gonna get near you.

You're gonna be safe.

I need to know

who eIse do we need to protect?

No. I'm the onIy one Ieft.

Suspect in custody.

- Michael! - Drop the gun!

- MichaeI, don't! MichaeI, no! - Get down!

- Drop the fuckin' gun! - No, wait a minute!

Wait a minute! Wait wait!

Suspect down.

What you got?

We've got five dead bodies in the last 24 hours.

This couId be the worst case of retaliation violence

this city's ever seen.

- Has that gotten out? - Not yet.

But we've onIy got a few hours tiII the press gets wind of it.

AII right.

So what are you thinking, counsel?

There's no way to justify their actions in the field tonight.

Someone has to take the faII for this.

Is that the officiaI position of the District Attorney?

Just to be cIear,

nothing leaves this room until it's been bIessed by our office.

What's your take on Shepherd?

He's been on the job for 30 hours straight with no sIeep.

He'II be easy to break.

okay, Detective.

Are you ready to begin?

You know the driII, Detective.

TeII us what happened out there tonight.

What difference does it make? Hmm?

The difference between Iosing your badge and going to prison

- for criminaI misconduct. - No matter what l say,

you're gonna spin it exactIy the way that you want,

exactIy the way it's been done here 100 times before.

What was that?

I know what you do with the facts

when they don't match the story you want to teII, right?

You change them or you ignore them.

Keep it up, Detective. You're just hanging yourseIf.

Am I?

TeII us what you know.

During the course of the initiaI investigation

into the shooting deaths of officer chris Jacobs,

we interviewed his partner, Detective Evans.

He gave us the name of a paid criminaI informant

who eventuaIIy Ied us to the suspect.

You placed an APB at approximateIy 2200 hours.

Yes, sir, when some of our patroI officers

reporting spotting the suspect and engaged in pursuit.

They were abIe to box him in at Front Street.

Based on preIiminary reports submitted by Patrol officers Lerner and cominsky,

they were attacked by an assaiIant.

Did you witness this, Detective?

A firefight did ensue.

The criminaI informant was shot and kiIIed in the crossfire.

Detective Shepherd and I then pursued the suspect

into the warehouse area. We cornered him.

We attempted to taIk him into surrendering

even after he had fired upon us.

At which time uniformed officers fired upon the suspect,

fataIIy injuring him onIy after all attempts

to disarm him had been exhausted.

What are we missing, Detective?

Sir?

We wish it was that simpIe.

It wasn't that cIean, was it, Detective?

You either pIay baII or I'm taking you down myseIf. You understand me?

You want to put me on the stand? Go ahead.

'cause I'II teII 'em everything.

But you don't want that, do you?

Right? You can't controI it.

lt's not the image that the department wants to present to the pubIic.

You're burnt out, Shepherd. We can aII see that.

Is that why you did what you did?

l have no idea what you're taIking about.

You have no idea what we're talking about?

WeII, we've got a sworn statement from your partner here...

and it says different.

There's no way.

Go ahead, read it. His debrief ended hours ago.

Why do you think that is?

Let me heIp you out, Detective.

Why don't you start by teIIing us

how Detective Evans wound up with two buIIet hoIes in his head - -

one seIf -infIicted and one not?

You were the first guy at the scene.

Sir, I can onIy comment

that during the course of our investigation,

we encountered what couId onIy be described as a theory

of potentiaI conspiracy involving individuals

from within our own department.

No way. This is a setup and you know it.

You're out of Iine.

Every one of those men is dead tonight because of us.

And for what?

The reason we're here is to find the truth.

- The truth, captain? - Yeah.

Those suspects had a target painted on their back

from every officer in the fieId.

We caused this!

We caused this.

Detective, sit down.

We caused this.

Detective.

This is our fauIt.

Start from the beginning.

Don't Ieave out a singIe detaiI.

This is your onIy shot.

Your partner's going down.

There's nothing we can do to stop that now.

Are you?

You don't have to join him.

There's onIy one way out that door.

It's time to come cIean.

My partner Detective Shepherd and I

received the first caII at 1800 hours.

There'd been an apparent shooting

down at the 6th Street Park - - that's deep within gangland.

Whose gangIand?

The Vice Lords.

They run aII the streets in between 16th and Fairfax.

Nobody goes in and nobody comes out

without being affiIiated with that crew.

PreIiminary reports indicated that it was indeed

a gangIand homicide.

The WeaIthy Street Boys - -

they'd been seen in the area and there'd been a series of shootings

in the past coupIe of weeks.

our initiaI instincts toId us

that it was a retaIiation shooting that resuIted from a prior incident.

- Say, we got a break in the rain. - Yeah, give it 10 minutes.

Johnson, what do you have?

Victim's a white maIe, late 20s, early 30s.

Took multiple GSWs to the head and chest.

chalk that up. How many does it make?

- Three in three weeks. - First on scene?

- l was, sir. - Did you ID the victim?

Not yet. No waIIet, no cash - - stripped cIean.

Detectives, we've got over two dozen spent sheII casings.

They're aII 9mms.

We've also got tread marks from what couId have been

the shooter's vehicle heading out of the park.

How Iong before you get the resuIts on the treads?

I'II be upIoading the photos within the next 24 hours,

but it'll still take a couple of days to get a positive match.

AII right. Show me this kid. Maybe we can shop a photo around.

Watch your step.

Took hits from aII sides.

Not very pretty what's Ieft of him.

PuII it back.

cover it up.

Hey, what's up? Do you know this guy?

He's one of ours, Shep.

Lock it down now!

Detective?

I've seen things no one shouId ever see.

l've dealt with it Iike we aII have.

Your training teIIs you to separate your emotions

from the job at hand, to buiId up a toIerance to it.

But when it's someone you know...

Turn it off.

I wanted revenge.

You saw what they did to him.

His face was bareIy recognizabIe.

Those fucking animaIs did that to him,

and for what?

A piece of gangIand?

They want to kiII each other over that, Lieutenant,

Iet 'em fuckin' have it.

You ready to continue?

Talk to me, Detectives. What are we Iooking at?

We got a positive ID on our victim.

- He's one of ours. - Jesus christ!

- Who is it? - Detective chris Jacobs.

He was an undercover working Vice.

- What was he doing down here? - We don't know yet.

We set up a four -bIock perimeter.

No one's getting in and out of this pIace untiI we know what happened.

We've also got what appears to be a bIood traiI that Ieads from here

to just outside the warehouse.

We think Jacobs got off a few rounds with a backup piece

before he went down, 'cause whoever our suspect is,

he's hurt and he's bIeeding.

Yeah, we notified IocaI hospitaIs, cIinics.

Guy goes for heIp, we've got him.

Listen to me: somebody shot one of ours.

Now it's your responsibility to bring them in to justice at aII costs.

Do you understand me?

AII right then.

Let's get these guys.

- Hey, Lieutenant, Jacobs had a wife. - I'II take care of it.

With aII due respect, sir, I know her. l'd like to be the one.

AII right, Detective.

You aII right?

Yeah. It's aII part of the job, you know?

Yeah. This is the hard part of what we do.

How do I teII her that?

You want me to go in with you?

No. Thanks, man.

I know her. She sees us both go, she'll know.

Yeah.

Give me a minute, aII right?

oh my God. Briggs!

What are you doing here? lt's been forever.

come in, come in. chris isn't back yet

but I'm expecting him any minute.

He's gonna be so excited to see you. How are you?

You want to stay for dinner?

No, I can't. Um...

- Tracy, Iisten. - What?

Is something wrong?

Did something happen to chris?

You ought to sit down.

Don't teII me this.

TeII me he's okay.

He's okay.

Briggs, where is he?

Sorry.

oh my God!

oh my God! oh my God!

oh, God damn it!

Listen to me. Listen to me.

I promise you that I wiII find whoever did this.

You find them and you kiII them!

You fucking kiII them!

Shh. come here, come on.

come here. Shh shh shh.

I'm so sorry.

I worked with Jacobs for over six years.

He was like a brother to me...

and a damn good cop.

But when he got transferred to Vice,

he got partnered with Evans.

Jesus christ.

Stick to the facts, Detective. We're not Iooking for any color commentary.

Everyone on the force knows he's a fucking joke - -

a burned -out drunk raging alcoholic

just pissing time away untiI he got his pension.

And you fucking guys stick Jacobs with him.

Are you finished?

Then Iet's continue.

Your assignment was to pursue the suspect,

track him down and bring him into custody.

That's exactly what we attempted to do. okay?

You teII me why an undercover wouId go into gangland with no backup.

We're investigating his actions.

His actions didn't make any sense, captain.

Before we could do anything else, we needed to find out what was going on.

There's a cop bar on Division and 8th

caIIed Eddie's.

Detective Evans was known to frequent the place.

cocktaiIs!

come on, keep up.

God.

cocktaiIs!

come on, sugar tits, keep up with me here.

God damn it.

Let's go, Sarah. Keep up. That's it.

You know, I am gonna take you home

and do dirty things to you tonight.

I'd Iove to, but I have a feeIing you might have a problem

getting your IittIe whiskey dick up.

AWW.

crown rocks. one for my friend too.

Aw, come on, Sarah. What're you doin' to me, girI?

oh! What is this? I got a hoIe in my gIass?

Better than a hoIe in your head.

What'd you say?

Do I know you?

No, but we know you, Detective Evans.

Who are you guys?

oh! You guys are IAD.

WeII, this is a cop bar and I am off duty.

You want to talk to me, you do it when I'm on the cIock

with my union rep present. other than that, you can kiss my ass.

You got it wrong, Jack. We're not IAD, we're Homicide.

oh, weII, what can I do for you, Detectives?

We're investigating the shooting death of chris Jacobs.

Your partner.

- Is this a fucking joke? - No joke.

Your partner was found shot to death at the park down on 6th Street.

- What the fuck?! - What was he doing there, Detective?

This isn't right. This wasn't supposed to go down.

The meet was scheduIed for Friday.

- What meet? - This is not right.

Hey, Evans, focus. What meet?

What were you working on?

We were assigned to a joint task force

investigating some smaII -time drug traffickers - -

this nothing bust.

AII right?

Now we had a paid criminal informant

set up a meet and greet with the pIayers for Friday night.

Why was the meet moved up?

No way he'd have gone in without backup.

Not much backup if your partner's facedown in a bar.

- What? - His partner's a drunk.

He kept fucking things up, so better go in alone

than chancing having the bust get tossed

because you're a deadbeat.

Fuck you, asshoIe!

l done my time in this shithoIe.

No, fuck you, asshoIe!

You want to drink yourseIf into oblivion? Let's go!

Better to be partnered with a cl than Iet him hang for your buIIshit!

I didn't know!

Now who was the informant? Give me a name!

- What's his name? - Tino. His name's Tino.

Where do I find him?

l don't know. He's Jacobs's guy.

BuIIshit, you cocksucker!

- BuIIshit! - Get off him!

- Where is he? - God damn it!

You're out of controI, Briggs!

Get the fuck back.

Your partner's way out of controI - - way out of Iine.

- Give yourseIf up. - Wait a minute.

- oh, God. - Hey, you Iisten to me, you son of a bitch.

Jacobs is dead because of you.

The onIy thing standing between you

and that maniac out there is me!

Now you tell me every goddamn thing you know,

or l swear to God, there's nothing I can do to prevent him

from coming back and finishing you.

It's 423 Rosewood.

You don't think you went a IittIe bit over the Iine there?

It was the onIy way, Lieutenant.

come on, you know when a cop screws up,

they shut down, go into automatic cover -up mode

'cause they need to justify their actions or they're finished.

We needed that information.

Who was the cI?

Tino.

His name was Tino.

Been pIayin' on the streets his whoIe Iife.

He was taking money from both sides of the fence.

We hit his house. He wasn't there.

So the waiting game began.

Yeah, Iike I thought.

There's no record of your request and a warrant to enter his premises.

He was a paid criminal informant. We weren't there to arrest him, captain.

And what if you had stumbIed upon evidence?

It wouId have been compIeteIy inadmissible in a court of law.

He was our onIy chance of finding the suspect.

So you trumped your entire investigation?

No, it was a judgment caII.

You guys are cops. You remember how to make those?

Put yourseIves in the same place at the same time.

You wouIdn't have done anything different.

This guy was our onIy chance at finding the shooter.

What time do you have?

12:30.

Man, it's been two hours. How Iong do you want to wait for this guy?

Last caII's not tiII 1 :45.

That's if he's at a bar.

What?

I didn't need you to puII me out tonight. I had Evans by myseIf.

Yes, you did. You were compIeteIy out of controI.

What's your probIem?

My probIem is that I can't have you go off haIf -cocked

- untiI we find this guy. - He killed a cop.

We've got haIf the department looking for him right now.

And that pretty much frees us up, doesn't it?

God damn it, Briggs!

You know, just Iisten to me for a minute, okay?

What?

My first year on the job,

working the B team on the west side of town,

ran into a gang -reIated homicide just Iike this one.

And I'm the rookie, so I just foIIow the team Iead.

But we knew who the shooter was.

Instead of bringing him in,

we decided to Iet things escaIate - -

street justice.

Let the animals kill each other, then we come in with the body bags.

Make Iife easy, right?

Yeah, it's about right.

Yeah, weII, it didn't take Iong.

RivaI gang gunned him down right away.

Street justice.

We Iet the streets cIean themseIves up, right?

You're wrong.

You know what we didn't count on?

AII the peopIe that were goin' down right after - -

a dozen. Four of 'em dead,

incIuding a six -year -oId girI.

caught a ricochet to the back of the head.

She was pIaying in her backyard.

For what?

Some buIIshit that we allowed to happen.

Your point, Detective?

My point is that you and I don't have to Iet this happen again.

He was my partner, Shepherd!

So if you're not up for the task, you better think about caIIing it a night.

- You need to cooI off, Briggs. - You need to cowboy up.

We got action.

You ready?

Easy.

Here he comes.

- Drop the gun, Tino! - Fuck, man.

- Drop the gun! - PoIice officers, Tino.

What the fuck you doin' in my house?

You know what? You're right. Let's take a waIk.

That's not cool. That's not cooI, man.

That's not cooI, man. What the fuck - -

What the fuck is all this about?

- This ain't how it's supposed to be pIayed. - Your hand deaIer's dead, Tino.

- What? - Detective Jacobs was found

shot and kiIIed at the park down on 6th Street.

Whoa whoa whoa. I don't know nothing about this shit.

Listen here, you motherfucker. You got 10 seconds

to tell me what you know, or we're gonna take you out that door

and parade you around gangIand in the most obvious unmarked poIice car

this city's ever seen. I'm taIking Iights, sirens,

the whoIe shebang, so everybody - -

every fucking gangbanger in this city knows where you get your cash!

Hold on, hold on. I can heIp you, man.

We're Iistening, Tino.

l can help you. Just give me a few days, man.

I'II get word from the street, circle around a little bit.

You're not Iistening to me, Tino.

A suspect is out there that shot and kiIIed a cop,

and you're the onIy one that knows why he was in the park.

Now your 10 seconds is aImost up.

I don't know.

Wrong answer.

Let's go!

- He was Iooking for a dirty cop. - What'd you say?

He was Iooking for a dirty cop, man.

Jacobs toId me not to talk to nobody.

And since I don't know neither of you, l ain't sayin' shit.

AII right.

- I've got a better idea. - Let's go!

What do we have here, Detective?

These guys, Tino? ReaIIy? You sure?

- Them? That's them right there? - Fuck y'aII, man.

- This is buIIshit, man. - Fellas!

Guys, recognize Tino?

come around! Take a Iook!

Say hi, Tino.

He wants to say hi.

come on, give 'em a smiIe, man.

Yeah, that's him.

This is bullshit, man. Get me the fuck out of here.

Looks Iike your cover's bIown, Tino.

Now you're thinkin', Tino.

Now you're thinkin'.

This is fucked up, man.

- Man, what the fu - - - Let's go.

- What the fuck is - - - Let's go.

- Briggs, take him. - come on, man.

- Get over there. - Take it easy, man.

- Take it easy on him. - What the fuck is the matter with him?

Let's have it.

Jacobs told me not to talk to nobody from IocaI PD, man.

He said the sheriff and the feds onIy, man.

Why wouId he say that?

He didn't know who he couId trust within the department.

You guys got some dirty shit goin' down, man.

He didn't know how high up it went.

What the heII was he doin' at 6th Street?

There was this kid he heard about from his partner - -

this young fighter GoIden GIoves, man.

ReaI tough - - sharp with his hands.

Yeah, what about this kid? What makes him important?

That's what I'm trying to teII you. This kid's a stone -coId brawIer, man.

So a group of these cops, they go to a coupIe of his fights, man.

They pick him up on a coupIe bullshit assault charges.

The flip him, man. They make him an offer.

This kid knows peopIe from both gangs, man.

Nobody was gonna fuck with him. And they figured he was money.

- They couId get on, they couId ride him. - Skip to the point, Tino.

So get this, man. These cops, they know every drug house in town.

They know where the money's stashed.

They know where the product's coming in and going out.

The problem is they don't have any evidence

to present to the judge to get warrants.

And when they do get the warrants,

it's too Iate - - the shit is gone.

So they decide to take matters into their own hands.

They hire this young fighter as an enforcer.

Picture this, man: young fighter running down Division,

hooking and jiving. He ducks behind a house,

puIIs down his mask, pistoI on his hip,

kicks in this door, beats the shit out of everybody.

Get the fuck down on the fIoor! Get the fuck on the fIoor!

It's motherfuckin' brutaI, man.

l know it sound like some buIIshit, but it's reaI, man.

- A few minutes later... - Where's the fuckin' shit?

...got the shit, man. coupIe seconds after that,

he back out on the streets sprintin', man.

The drugs, the money - - you name it, man.

And up the block, cop car - - side window down.

He runs, tosses it into the back. Bam!

Right back on Division, hooking and jivin', man - -

going for a little morning cardio,

running right down on Riverside. It was seamIess, man.

You know nobody gonna report that kind of money missing.

You seriousIy expect us to beIieve this buIIshit?

It's the truth, man. This kid took down 20 or 30 scores.

lf everything you're teIIing us is the truth,

why would they want him kiIIed?

The boys got greedy, man.

Shit was going smooth. They wanted more.

They gave him more work than MichaeI couId handIe by himseIf.

He had to get his own crew.

come on, come on.

What were their names?

cruz, Hicks and Thompson.

Do those names sound famiIiar to you, Lieutenant?

Three weeks ago, we fish Andre cruz out of the water.

He's weighted down; buIIet hoIe to the forehead.

ProbabIy been there for days.

Takes us a week to get a positive lD.

Right? chaIk it up. He's our first.

Second body - - carI Hicks. LowIife from the west side,

found shot to death along the riverside.

BaIIistics on both - - 9mms.

Now l bet you that when we puII the sIugs from Jacobs tonight,

that we have a match with these other two crime scenes.

And that's a series.

okay? one, two and three.

What about the fourth man?

Jack Junior Thompson.

He was shot to death tonight by the same cops that killed Michael Pips.

So there's a four -man crew running around out there.

But you still haven't toId us why they got burned.

You're not Iistening, man. This guy's a boxer.

He was just using the money to supplement his income.

About three months ago, he had a Fight cIub InternationaI - -

these big -time managers in the crowd watching.

He promises them a show. This kid starts getting aII this attention.

He got money falling out of his pockets, man.

lt's like he hit the lotto. So he stops taking the work from the cops.

ProbIem is his crew gets hungry.

And they start taking side work,

aII that's unauthorized by the Man.

They call him in. They teII him if he don't take care of his crew,

they aII goin' down.

This is buIIshit, man. Y'all eatin'.

What's going on?

They're gonna kiII him and his crew?

Nuh -huh. They gonna Ieak it to the street

that it was him and his crew that took all their scores.

Man, everybody be gunnin' for his shit.

It Iook Iike one gang -reIated shooting after another.

Jacobs, he just stumbIed into some shit he wasn't ready for.

Whoever puIIed the trigger set this thing in motion.

Yeah, weII, that's what it Iooks Iike.

You stiII haven't toId us what the fighter's name is, Tino.

MichaeI - - MichaeI Pips.

Detective Jacobs said his partner knew about this?

I guess so.

Hey, Detective Evans - - yes or no?

Yes, man.

He knew.

- And you beIieved him? - No.

AII right.

What the fuck is the matter with this nigga, man?

I thought it was street buIIshit - -

the stuff that gangbangers and hoodrats

teII each other to justify their pathetic IittIe Iives.

Detective.

I been on this job Iong enough to read between the lines, fellas.

The only thing Tino gave us was the name of the shooter - -

this kid MichaeI Pips.

That's our guy. End of story.

Tino wants to start spinning some fiction about dirty cops.

I've heard it 1 ,000 times.

So you gave no weight to his inteI?

That's not what I said.

Look at what he actuaIIy gave us.

This kid MichaeI Pips,

not only is he our shooter,

but I guarantee you we can tie both him and his crew

to over a dozen unsoIved home invasions and burgIaries

within the past 12 months.

That's what he gave us.

l repeat: suspect in 6th Street homicide

has been identified as one MichaeI AIexander Pips - -

PauI Ida PauI Sam.

Known residence: 1402 Franklin.

I want an APB on the suspect's vehicIe - -

an oIdsmobiIe cutIass 1988,

license plate David charIes Nora 2 -3 -9.

- copy that... - What the fuck did he just do?

He just caIIed it in.

You just painted a target on that kid's head.

Listen, if what you said is even partially true,

we need to get to MichaeI before anyone eIse does.

Man, this is buIIshit.

Hey, you know those guys Hicks and cruz?

Yeah, I know 'em. I just don't know where they at.

- And we do. - They're dead, Tino.

This thing started three weeks ago.

Man, you gotta get me out of here.

You gotta get me out of this city now.

caIm down, Tino, aII right?

Long as you're with us, nothing's gonna happen to you.

- l promise. - Where you takin' me?

We need to verify your information.

- Where you takin' me? - Taking you to Detective Evans.

And if he's one of them, I'm dead meat, right?

l need to talk to the DA. I need to taIk to the feds.

- Hey, shut up! - Dino, as Iong as you're in our custody,

nothing is going to happen to you.

You understand me? Nothing.

So it was your decision to go to Evans.

Yes.

You knew who the shooter was. You had a criminaI informer in your custody

who happened to be the onIy person that could connect that shooter

with the murder of an undercover poIice officer.

Why wouIdn't you just bring him in?

It wasn't as simpIe as that.

It wasn't as simpIe as that?

He asked for protective custody.

You vioIated set protocoIs.

Now he's Iaying on the sIab in the morgue next to two dead officers

and a 19 -year -oId suspect. EnIighten us.

Look, if what he was saying was even remoteIy true,

then the safest pIace for him was with us.

That was a heII of a risk to take.

Well, we didn't know what we were up against.

Easy easy.

He's dead.

Hey hey hey hey!

What the fuck is going on?

Son of a bitch.

He was burning case fiIes.

Where are they from?

They're aII over the pIace, man.

Got a - - got a B&E, home invasion

and a robbery case.

All right, what are you thinking?

I think that this means he knew what was going down.

Aw, so you're actually beIieving this buIIshit.

Listen, they had to destroy every piece of evidence that couId be tied back to them.

What the fuck are you talking about?

check out the gun.

Look at this.

Yeah, what am I Iooking at?

- oId schooI .45 caIiber, right? - So what?

- What do we carry? .40s, huh? - Standard issue.

Exactly. Now how many seIf -infIicted gunshot wounds

have you investigated, huh?

- Why would he use this? - What the fuck are you doing, man?!

You just contaminated a crime scene.

This is buIIshit. We don't have time to wait for baIIistics.

No fuckin' way, Shepherd.

No way my ass is going out on the line for you.

Not Iike this!

Look at the body, huh?

Why wouId Evans shoot himseIf with a .45 -caliber pistol

and have the gun faII perfectIy beneath his chair?

Use your head.

Don't fucking do this, man.

Look at that.

Someone's trying to cIean up.

What the hell do you think you were doing?!

There wasn't any time!

You compromised everything, do you know that?

I'm not gonna cover up for your actions tonight, Detective!

- No possible way! - You're not Iistening to me!

Evans couIdn't have possibIy kiIIed himseIf!

Thanks to your actions, we can't prove it!

- How couId you Iet that happen? - I tried to stop him.

- That's not good enough! - The entire scene is contaminated!

l understand that, sir. There's no way to justify his actions.

But they did yieId resuIts that were necessary

for our ongoing investigation.

Jesus christ! Are you kidding me?

It did have the appearance of someone trying to clean up after themselves.

So now you're buying into the conspiracy. Mmm?

What happened to aII the "hoodrat" and "street bullshit," Detective?

l said it had the appearance, captain.

charIes Edward 12, do you copy? over.

charIes Edward 12?

copy. Go for 12.

Report a possibIe sighting of the suspect vehicIe.

officers en route.

charIes Edward 12, this is 5 LincoIn 9.

What is your position?

5 LincoIn 9 eastbound on Fox.

Heading towards...

charIes Edward 12 en route. HoId that position.

- What the fuck is going on? - Evans is dead.

- What? - He was burning case fiIes.

This ain't how it's supposed to go down, man.

Left Ieft Ieft! Take the bridge!

I need to know: was Evans dirty?

- Was he on the take? - I don't know.

I toId you this was buIIshit!

5 LincoIn 9, charIes Edward 12.

Be advised: we're coming in from the northwest side.

WiIcox in front. What is your position?

5 Lincoln 9, now code 3, in pursuit of suspect's vehicIe

eastbound on Front - - repeat: east on Front - -

nearing dead end. Request immediate backup.

Roger 5 Lincoln 9. charIes Edward 12

is three minutes ETA. Box in the suspect and hoId the perimeter.

All right. Let's walk through it, Detective.

lt's like a blur. It happens so fast when you're actuaIIy in it.

But from my perspective...

I see muzzIe fIashes coming from the suspect's vehicle.

The patroI officers are aIready pinned down.

They're caIIing for backup.

BuIIets crashed into our car.

And l hear the engine rev just as we're spinning in behind the barricade.

I duck beIow the dash.

We evacuate the vehicIe.

Detective Shepherd makes a move for Tino.

I take up a position, draw my weapon,

foIIow the other officers' line of sight,

Iean over the hood of the car.

I have a visuaI on the suspect.

I fire.

- How many shots? - Four.

No, five...

right at the center of mass.

You definitely had a visuaI on the suspect?

Yes, sir.

Just so we're cIear...

did you see the weapon in the suspect's hand

before you fired?

Yes.

I onIy fired after he engaged us first.

How many suspects did you see when you entered the scene?

Just the one.

And the suspect's vehicle, right?

That's correct.

The first responders reported muItipIe suspects in the area.

Why wouId you go in there without backup?

Look, if MichaeI was in that warehouse,

then we needed to get to him before anyone eIse.

Even if you put yourself and your partner in harm's way?

When we arrived, Jack Thompson was firing on us.

Why?

The officers had him pinned down.

He was trapped. There was no way out for him.

Why wouId he fire on us?

Like you just said, he was trapped.

They'd killed a cop earIier in the night.

They were a four -man crew.

There was cruz, Hicks, Thompson and MichaeI Pips.

cruz and Hicks were dead already.

Who was in that tree Iine?

Excuse me?

Who pinned us down on the tree line?

Movement, tree Iine!

You said they were bangers - -

WeaIthy Street Boys, Vice Lords.

If it wasn't one, it was the other.

No, we thought they were bangers because of what Tino toId us.

What did we reaIIy see?

We're fucking sitting ducks out here!

MichaeI said he saw three officers at the 6th Street Park shooting.

He said that - - he said "three."

Let's get back on track.

Right there.

"Lerner, cominsky and Johnson."

Those are the same three officers that shot down Michael Pips tonight.

Where was the third officer when we arrived?

l don't like what you're insinuating.

Where was Johnson?

Johnson arrived after you went to the warehouse.

It's right here. There's no way

you couId have seen that from your perspective, Detective.

WeII, who confirmed his arrivaI? Lerner and cominsky, right?

Yo, Iet's get the fuck out of here, man.

Did the suspect say he saw three uniformed officers

at 6th Street earIier in the day?

Yeah, he said three. But taken out of context,

it couId mean anything.

So what do you think he meant, Detective?

lt's gangland. Are you kidding me?

We've had a series of shootings in the last couple of weeks.

You teII me, captain, have we stepped up patroIs?

ExactIy.

What do you think happened out there?

l think it was a righteous shoot.

Hey, eyes on me, buddy!

I think the suspect was agitated beyond the point of no return.

And had Detective Shepherd not got between us,

I wouIdn't hesitate to put the suspect down.

Had you tried to taIk him down?

He had aIready fired on us both, Lieutenant.

So, yes,

if l had the chance to do it again, I'd kiII his ass.

Listen, we can circle around this again and again

and look at it from every different angIe,

but this is gonna come down to one important fact:

he fired on us and continued to fire on us

knowing we were police officers.

Were those other officers justified in kiIIing this kid?

I ask myseIf...

had they not, wouId me and my partner be sitting here right now?

But wait a minute! You're not Iistening to me!

Because it's buIIshit! It's buIIshit!

Why? Because it doesn't fit in a tiny IittIe box for you?

I'm done with this. You know where I stand.

I'm prepared to fiIe an unlisted report.

We expect your fuII cooperation.

I can't commit to anything,

not tiII I speak to the administration.

- Sorry. - So what are you saying?

You're not even gonna Iook into this?

We're moving on, Detective.

What if Tino is right?

What if what he's saying is true?

We don't owe it to the public to make sure that our house is cIean?

There's no evidence that wouId warrant that investigation.

You've made sure of that.

Who could have set this whoIe thing in motion?

It had to be - - it had to be somebody

with compIete tacticaI controI over aII units invoIved.

Somebody shot one of ours.

Now it's your responsibiIity to bring him in to justice

at all costs. Do you understand me?

Who could have set this whoIe thing in motion?

Are you Iistening to me, Detective?

It's you.

You sent us on a one -way mission to retaliate against a cop killer.

This bIood's on your hands.

Don't worry. I have too much respect for the department

to make this a pubIic matter.

I'II cIean up these reports

to avoid a criminaI prosecution.

There's no way I'm gonna save yourjob.

You're done.

I don't know how I didn't see this before.

Search without a warrant; tampering with evidence;

the death of a criminaI informant while he's in your custody.

That's just the beginning.

It wouId have to be somebody that had compIete access

to aII the criminaI case fiIes.

Yeah.

Get the badge, change out the sheIIs,

cIean this pIace up.

You got it. check over there.

- come on, guys, hurry up. - Grab his badge. come on.

- Let's get out of here, boys. - Hurry up!

Someone - - someone who couId controI

aII of the crime scenes.

Someone who couId controI the timing

of aII of the patroIIed zones

so there couId be no witnesses.

- Go! - Lie down!

Give me the gun! Give me the gun!

That's you.

That's you, Lieutenant.

I'm gonna have your badges. l want your names.

I want your names. I want your names.

Someone who couId controI every aspect

of what was reported.

I got a sworn statement from an officer in good standing.

She says the onIy thing that happened that night was street justice - -

a retaIiation shooting from a rivaI gang.

It's that easy.

And this is the onIy thing the public's gonna hear.

Anything eIse is considered fiction.

I'II need your badge and your gun.

Hey.

Briggs, you saw what happened tonight.

It's over, Shepherd.

There's onIy one move to make.

I expect nothing Iess than your fuII cooperation.

And you'II have it.

You write up the report. He'II sign his name.

I guarantee it.

Why?

- Why'd you do it? - Get him out of here!

Huh?

He was innocent.

- You put that in your report, you piece of shit! - Don't do this!

- Now! - Don't do this here.

- He was innocent! - That's enough!

Put that in your report, you son of a bitch!

l'm not taking the faII for you.

And you - - you saw what happened tonight.

- I won't Iet them bury it. - All right.

- I won't Iet them bury it. - AII right, aII right.

come on.

We're right here moving towards the aIcove.

We turn the corner. Shots fire. We duck behind the wall.

PoIice officers! Drop the gun!

And we're here. Who did you see?

Man, l didn't do this! I didn't kiII that fuckin' cop!

Drop the fucking gun, MichaeI. We have you surrounded.

Who did you see? Just stay there and Iet me get a shot off.

Let me get a shot off, Shepherd. lt's clear.

Let me take this guy out. Just stay there.

Who did you see?

Who did you see? Who were you Iooking at?

Who did you want to hear? What was going on?

The tree Iine.

There's no Iight.

Nobody wouId have seen you back here.

Where were the shots?

Right there.

This is where you fired, you sons of bitches.

Right over here.

Right here.

cSI misses a coupIe every time.

.40 S&W.

What did he say?

.45 caIiber, oId schooI. Right?

- So what? - What do we carry? .40s.

- Huh? - Standard issue.

What did you say?

What did you teII them?

BaIIistics on both - - 9mms.

Now I bet you that when we puII the sIugs from Jacobs tonight,

that we have a match with these other two crime scenes.

And that's a series.

okay? one, two and three.

9mm.

You saw three cops. can you identify them?

Back it down, Detective!

Lower your weapon. Look at him, MichaeI. He's lowering his gun.

You bIocked my shot, you son of a bitch.

You wanted to make sure your boys were safe.

Detective Stephen Briggs, Metro PD.

I need the chief homicide detective.

connect me now!

Yeah, it's me. Meet me outside in five minutes.

okay.

Hey, you shouId put that away.

PeopIe get hurt aII the time with those things.

You brought everything, right?

Yes, I did.

You think you went a IittIe overboard in there?

We got away with it, didn't we?

crime scenes are aII bunk.

The Iieutenant's running around trying to cover his ass.

We're free and cIear, my friend.

Besides, you think they're reaIIy gonna beIieve a word I said?

Streets are open. Time to roII.

Yeah, I got it.

Let's go.

Yeah.

Ready?

So when do I get my cut?

Listen, you get me across the canadian border first

and then we'II taIk next steps.

That's buIIshit.

I'm the one that took aII the risks Iast night.

Let me teII you something: if it wasn't for me,

my partner wouId have shot aII your guys in the tree Iine.

We'd be in the fucking shit right now.

Do you understand?

That's not to mention that your staging of a suicide - -

it leaves a lot to be desired, okay?

l've been cleaning up your mistakes aII night.

- Mistakes? - Yeah.

Your mistake is you shouId have never Iet more than MichaeI Pips in this thing.

He couldn't have taken aII those houses down aIone.

WeII, his crew, they couId have exposed aII of us.

They didn't. Listen, captain, this thing is over.

okay? And there's nothing that can tie us back to any of it.

So don't go playing Monday -morning quarterback now.

l get your ass over that border,

you are gone forever. You understand me?

Yeah, I wouIdn't be compIaining that much if I was you.

I am about to make you a very rich man.

I'm about to be.

Need to cIear traffic ahead. We are moving to point.

- Shit. - Move it, aII. Let's go.

- Back me up! - Let's go!

- Shit. - Move!

Go go go!

come on!

cover me!

Go go, Iet's go! Let's go!

Let's go behind the warehouse!

- Move back! - come on! Go go!

come on, Iet's go!

Move back!

Move move move!

Drop it!

I go! I go, I go!

ReIoad!

- Ready? - Let's go!

cover me! I'm going for an opening here!

He's in the warehouse.

HeIp's coming. Stay down.

Shepherd!

You hurt yourseIf, Shepherd!

You said too much!

You didn't think I was gonna check your story?

TeII you the truth, I didn't think you gave a fuck, Briggs!

"Let the animals kiII each other," right?

Yeah.

Didn't count on you knowing Jacobs.

You kiIIed Detective Jacobs!

You kiIIed Hicks and cruz!

And you set up Evans to take the faII!

You were cIeaning up tonight!

That's right, paI. You waIked me right through it!

You even did the report for me.

What are you gonna do now, Detective?

You got no pIay, Shepherd! The building's surrounded!

This goes up a Iot higher than you know.

Trust me, Briggs, there's stiII time for you to get in, paI.

You're not gonna make it out! Give it up!

Your boys shot everyone that can connect me to this crime.

The fucked -up thing is I wanted to incIude you in this, Briggs.

I did!

Everyone else said you were too much of a Ioose cannon.

What do you say? I'II make you a rich man.

There's stiII pIenty of money to go around.

Huh? What do you say?

- What do you say, Briggs? - No, you're trapped, Shepherd!

There's no way out for you!

You don't know how high up this thing goes!

Easy.

Whoa.

WeII, thank you, Detective.

You can take it from here, Lieutenant.

You don't sound convinced.

Everything fits too perfectIy in this case.

What do you want me to do?

Show me his statements.

I can't do that.

I just want to know what he's saying.

These reports are for our eyes only.

Just keep him here for awhiIe.

Just keep him taIking.

What do you expect to find?

I don't know.

But if there was somebody eIse invoIved,

it's somebody that knows our system inside and out.

No no.

No! God!

What if you're right, Detective?

Then we've found our cop kiIIer.