Chapter 218

The 32nd floor of the Mandalay Bay Hotel.

The room was filled with a strong smell of gunpowder, mixed with a faint odor of blood.

The shooter was dead, now the question was how to wrap it up?

This wasn’t Los Angeles, it was Las Vegas, and to be honest, Luke’s status was a bit awkward here.

But judging by the results, he made the right bet.

Luke bursts into the hotel room and interrupts the gunman’s shooting.

Afterward, Luke decisively shot and wounded the gunman, who had no choice but to shoot himself.

No matter which way you look at it, Luke is a hero to the city of Las Vegas, and he will reap huge benefits from this heroic action.

It may seem a bit snobbish, but human nature makes it so.

Except for a very few people who were selfless and had compassionate thoughts, who would risk being backstabbed by a robber to stop the other person when there was no benefit to be gained.

Luke took out his cell phone and made a video call with Chief Reed.

A few moments later, the video voice connected, and Reed was sitting on the end of the bed, yawning, with a glass of whiskey in his hand, “Luke, aren’t you supposed to be dashing around the Vegas casinos at this hour? How come you remembered to contact me.”

Listening to this tone, Reed should still not know about the shooting in Las Vegas, but thinking about it, he was the deputy director of the LAPD, if Luke was not at the scene of the shooting, he would not have been able to get involved with this case.

“Chief, I’ve got a little problem here.”

Luke took his cell phone around the room, filming the scene for Reed to see.

Reed sat up straight with a jerk, his sleepiness sweeping away, “Where are you? Aren’t you on vacation? What the hell?”

Luke said, “Chief, you should turn on the TV right now and watch the news from Las Vegas.”

Reed got out of bed and turned on the TV as he asked, “Don’t sell me short, what’s going on?”

“I’m traveling through Las Vegas right now and there happens to be an open air music festival over here.

Around ten o’clock at night, I was dancing in the plaza with other tourists when I suddenly heard a gunshot, looked up to see the 32nd floor of the hotel was on fire, and guessed that there might have been a gunman shooting at the plaza.

After that, a lot of people were shot and killed in the plaza, and the scene was very chaotic.

At first, I thought that things would soon be over, but the gunfire continued for a minute or two, the gunman had no intention of stopping shooting, and there were more and more injured people in the plaza, and the Las Vegas police never showed up.

By this time, I had a lock on the shooter’s location, and I decided to put a stop to the suspect’s act of carnage.

I got to the room where the shooter was first, kicked in the door, and exchanged gunfire with the shooter, who killed himself with a pistol in his left hand, after I wounded him in the arm and thigh.” Luke explained as he photographed the dead body.

“Chief, that’s about it, what do I do?”

Reed asked rhetorically, “Are you hurt?”

“I was shot in the chest, but I saw a Las Vegas police officer on the 31st floor and brought a bulletproof vest with steel plates inserted from him, so other than some pain in my chest, I’m not seriously hurt.”

“You reckless bastard, I thought David was reckless enough, I didn’t realize you were more violent than him.” Reed cried a little.

“Where are the Las Vegas police? Why were you the only one at the scene?”

“I only saw one Las Vegas cop on the 31st floor, I tried to get him to move in with me but he had to wait for orders from his superiors, I guess he should still be waiting for backup.”

Reed asked rhetorically, “He’s all waiting for backup? Why did you rush up there alone? Aren’t you afraid of getting hurt?”

Luke had hangings, so naturally he wasn’t afraid.

But this can’t be told to outsiders, and finds another reason, “I didn’t think I could subdue the gunman by myself at first.

I just wanted to go up to the 32nd floor to scout around and see what the situation is.

If the gunman had accomplices on the 32nd floor, I would retreat and wait for backup.

As a result, I went up to the 32nd floor and did not find the gunman’s accomplices. I searched the entire corridor and did not see a single silhouette.

Earlier, when I observed downstairs, I also saw only one person firing a gun, and I ventured a guess that the gunman might be a single person.

Even if it wasn’t one person, the number of people wouldn’t be too many.

Subsequently, I found the room where the gunman was located, broke the door and exchanged fire with the other party, and that’s what happened.”

Reed’s tone was solemn: “Luke, don’t be so reckless in the future, when you come back, I will definitely criticize you.”

“You’re the boss, when I get back, you can criticize all you want. But the question now is, what should I do?”

Reed hesitated for a moment, “Is the Las Vegas police not moving now?”

“Nope, guess they’re probably downstairs discussing tactics.”

Reed cautioned, “You need to be careful, don’t let these assholes blitz you as a gunman, better find a more secluded spot in the room.”

“You’re right.” Luke hid in the corner of the balcony and sat down.

The Las Vegas police rushed in and couldn’t see the place in the first place, and avoided a firefight and accidental injuries on both sides.

“Chief, what else do I need to do now?”

“Stay in the room, take care to stay hidden, and don’t run around, lest you be mistakenly injured by the Las Vegas police.

Then call 911 and explain the situation at the scene.

I’ll ask Chief Frank to contact the Las Vega PD and put you on the spot, but it will take some time for the layers to be relayed.

Even then don’t take it lightly, the officers in command at the scene may not follow orders from their superiors completely.

In times of crisis, they can do anything, be careful not to get hurt by mistake.”

Luke said, “I know, I’ve been carrying a law enforcement recorder, it should have been uploaded to the cloud.”

“Good, no problem with that.” Reed barked again, “Remember, you’re in Las Vegas, not Los Angeles.

There’s no shame in being a bit of a wimp.

Don’t get into a head-on confrontation with the Las Vegas police, and even if they want to search you and temporarily detain you for scrutiny, you’re not allowed to resist, understand?”

“I’ll remember.” Although Luke was a bit irritated, he also knew that Reed was doing it for his own good.

“Finally, I have one more thing to say.

Good job!” Reed finished and hung up his cell phone.

Luke smiled and dialed 911.

When the phone connected, a woman’s voice rang, “This is the 911 answering desk.”

“I’m at the Mandalay Bay Hotel Hotel, there’s been a shooting here, hundreds of people dead or injured at the scene ……”

Before Luke could finish his sentence, he was interrupted by the answering officer, “I see, we’ve received hundreds of 911 calls and the police and ambulances have already arrived at the scene.

All you have to do now is protect yourself.”

The cell phone was then hung up.

“Beep ……”

Luke was dumbfounded, I’m not finished yet, I ……

Luke was also somewhat speechless.

After a while, Luke dialed 911 again.

But it couldn’t be reached, it was always occupied.

Luke was even more depressed.

“Ding bell ……” his cell phone rang.

Luke looked down and it was his mom calling.

“Hey, mom.”

“Even Karma, thank God you finally answered the phone.

I saw on the news that there was a shooting over in Las Vegas, you’re not in any danger, are you?”

Luke smiled, “Mom, I’m a cop, I’ve seen everything, don’t worry, it’s fine.”

Linda was obviously relieved, “I saw on the news that the gunman shot and wounded hundreds of people, it’s just horrible, it’s good that you’re fine.”

“Everything is fine on my side, how are you and Fatty?”

“Our side is fine, when will you be back?”

“Probably the day after tomorrow.”

“It’s better to come back earlier, I know you’re a police officer, but the situation this time is too dangerous, hundreds of people have already been shot and wounded, the gunman doesn’t care if you’re a police officer or not.”

Without further explanation, Luke agreed, “You’re right, I’ll be back in LA as soon as I can.”

Luke glanced at his cell phone, “Mom, Grandpa called too, I’ll take it.”

Luke pressed the answer button and got right to the point, “Grandpa, everything is fine with me in Vegas, you don’t have to worry.”

Robert laughed, “I’m not the one who’s worried, you’re a cop, I know you can take care of yourself. Did you have fun over there?”

“Yes.”

“That’s good, I expect your mom will be worried when she sees the news, better come back early.”

“I know.”

Val chuckled on the side of the phone, “Remember to bring me a present when you get back.”

“No problem.”

Luke hung up his cell phone and Blackie’s call came back in.

“Hey man, how’d it go in Vegas? You didn’t get hurt, did you?”

“We go through gunfire every day in L.A. too, it’s not like you don’t know what can happen.”

Blackie said, “I just saw the news, there’s been a terrorist attack in Las Vegas, hundreds of people have been shot in the piazza.

You have to be careful, they can be different from ordinary suspects.

It could be a well-trained and well-equipped terrorist organization, and they usually don’t come out alone, so be careful.”

Luke asked rhetorically, “Are you alone now?”

“Yes, why?”

“I’m going to make a voice video call to you now.”

Luke hung up his cell phone and dialed Black’s voice video, filming the scene for him to see.

“Holy farking farking oil ……,” Blackie exploded into a series of foul mouths, “What the hell is going on over there?”

Luke walked out onto the balcony again and took a picture of what was going on down there.

Blackie’s voice came from his cell phone, “I’m having a little trouble seeing …… Wait, you’re not going to be at the scene of the shooting. No, this angle would be the room where the shooter was.

You participated in the process of catching the murderer, also not right, why are you the only one at the scene, you also gave me a voice video, do not need to keep it secret?” Blackie had a series of why’s and guessed the general reason, but was a little incredulous.

“Don’t you have so many questions, listen to me slowly.” Luke glanced at the door of the room, there was still no movement outside, so he guessed there was still waiting.

Luke recounted the scene to Xiao Hei again.

Xiao Hei stared wide-eyed, still somewhat unbelievable, but the scene was so real, revealing a look of envy: “If I had known it was so exciting, I should have had the cheek to go with you.”

Subsequently, Xiao Hei asked with some concern: “You filmed the scene for me to see, aren’t you worried about violating the non-disclosure agreement?”

Luke laughed: “I didn’t sign a non-disclosure agreement in Las Vegas, and the situation is more complicated now.”

Blackie realized the problem as well, “What are the Las Vegas police doing when you’ve been at the scene for so long?”

Luke glanced at his watch, it was already 10:35pm, almost 20 minutes had passed since the shooter killed himself, “I don’t know what they’re up to. My biggest regret right now is that I didn’t grab the 31st floor officer’s walkie-talkie.”

However, Luke was just thinking about it, he had already grabbed the guy’s bulletproof vest, if he grabbed the walkie-talkie again, he guessed the guy really blew up.

In addition, Luke did not expect the Las Vegas police to be so wasted, and after so long there was no movement.

This was something he didn’t expect beforehand.

He originally thought that after he subdued the gunman, the Las Vegas police would arrive at the scene right after him.

But the facts were very different, and there was no sign of the Las Vegas police until now.

Blackie was concerned, “So what are you going to do now?”

Luke asked without answering, “Are you still in contact with that female reporter?”

“Uh, how should I put it …… sort of no more.”

“I’ll give you one more chance to think of an answer, have you?”

“Well, she did always pester me recently, may be attracted by my charm, like her this kind of chick is a little bit bitchy, you are good to her, she may not pay attention to you, from you to suffer a loss, on the contrary, will be interested in you.

Of course, it can’t be ruled out that there are some interest components mixed in.”

“You said half a day of nonsense, that is, you two still have contact.”

Xiao Hei was a little weak: “Don’t worry, I have a measure, just playing with her, won’t take it seriously.”

“Back to your scummy nature?”

“Then what do you want me to do? Marry her? Hehehe.”

Thinking that Blackie was going to marry female reporter Pari Jones, Luke shook his head, “You’d better continue to be a scum.”

Luke then revealed a solemn look, “Now, I’m going to get down to business with you, so listen carefully.

If I don’t contact you within three hours.

You will tell Parley Jones about it, but don’t say too much at once.

Just say that an LAPD officer may have seen fit to subdue the shooter.

If I haven’t contacted you by tomorrow morning.

You’ll tell her who I am, got it?”

Blackie frowned, puzzled, “You subdued the gunman all by yourself, you’re a hero, so why make it seem like you’re in danger.”

“You’re right, my biggest danger right now comes from the Las Vegas police.

Of course, the odds are that they won’t do anything, but defense is not an option.

With such a serious shooting in Las Vegas, the Las Vegas police cowered and couldn’t subdue the shooter even a couple minutes after the shooting had already passed.

Instead, I, an LAPD officer, took out the shooter, which is like ‘slapping’ them in the face.

And you expect them to treat me as a guest of honor, as a hero? How can that be?”

Although Reed was aware of the incident and the LAPD would help Luke communicate, Luke didn’t know how the LAPD would do it? And to what extent.

For another, there were times when Reed’s status was rather a limitation, and there were things he wasn’t able to do.

Then Luke used a two-legged approach, the power of the media is great, once this matter is exposed, it can play a big role in promoting.

Sometimes, the wild way instead can play an unexpected effect.

Luke did not violate any rules with this approach either, it was compliant and reasonable, he was just chatting with his friend.

Blackie said, “I know, my reporter friend will be happy to help.”

Luke reminded, “Don’t be stupid and tell her directly, it’s better to get some favors out of her, and if necessary, you can contact their superiors, don’t give up this good opportunity to make extra money.”

Xiao Hei was a bit hesitant, “Is it good to take their money?”

“It’s definitely not okay if it’s a case we’re in charge of investigating, but this time the situation is different. It’s in Las Vegas, and neither of us signed a non-disclosure agreement.”

Blacky hemmed and hawed, “I know.”

Luke barked, “Just this once, don’t do it smooth in the future.”

Blacky nodded, “Don’t worry, once is enough.”

Luke laughed and snickered, “You and Parley Jones are a perfect match, it’s a shame you’re not married.”

Luke glanced at his cell phone, “I’m getting into a call, later.”

“Okay man, I’ll wait to hear from you, take care of yourself.”

Luke hung up the video and glanced at the caller ID, it was his dad, Li Zhaofeng’s number.

Luke pressed the answer button, “Hey dad.”

“Luke, I heard that there was a terrorist attack in Las Vegas, are you okay?”

“I’m fine, how did you know I was in Las Vegas?”

“Your mom told me.”

“You two are still in touch?” Luke was a little surprised.

“We’re still friends even if we’re divorced, and with two kids in common, I’ve been watching you guys grow up, and she’s the first one to communicate with me if anything happens.

You’re a little better off, Little Fatty is not yet an adult and will soon enter the rebellious stage.

You really owe him a beating at his age …….”

Luke laughed, “I thought you guys were planning on getting remarried?”

“No, I did hear from your mom that you have a lawyer girlfriend.”

“Sort of, are you planning to rush the marriage or do you have any other good advice?”

“I’m not even successful enough in the marriage department to give you any good advice.

But, as a father, I’d like to offer an insight that isn’t really advice.

In my years of experience, you must be careful when getting married, especially if the other person is also a lawyer.

I know this is not what a father should say.

According to our Chinese tradition, I should encourage you.

But …… this is not China, this is America.”

“Dad, thanks for the advice, and the two of us aren’t planning to get married.”

“OK, it’s good that you’re fine, take an early rest. I’ll visit you guys in LA sometime.”

“Good night.” Luke hung up his cell phone.

After Luke hung up his cell phone, Daisy and other colleagues also called to offer their condolences.

Without realizing it was almost eleven o’clock.

Luke walked next to the door and looked out, he could vaguely hear movement outside, but no one could be seen in the hallway.

He couldn’t figure out what the Las Vegas police were doing when it had been forty minutes already.

If Reed hadn’t cautioned him not to go outside, he would have been tempted to take it upon himself to go to the Las Vegas police and explain the situation.

Had these idiots gone for a late night snack?

The 31st floor of the hotel.

A large number of Las Vegas police officers were gathered here.

In fact, they weren’t idle and were mainly evacuating the hotel guests.

The one in charge of directing the action at the scene was the commando team leader of the Special Operations Bureau, Josen Kapok.

He instructed to one of the commando team members, “Go get that police officer who was the first to arrive at this floor, I have something to ask him.”

Soon, a white constable was called over.

“I’m Commando Leader Josen Kapok, you were the first to get to this floor?”

“Yes, Captain Jotham, my name is Kendy Bormie, and I’ve been reporting to my superiors.”

“Describe to me again the situation on the 32nd floor.”

“The stairway door on the 32nd floor was locked, and I haven’t been up there, however, I heard intense gunfire, and there was definitely more than one shooter, I suspect a gang.

There is another circumstance that I feel the need to mention.

Just at 10:10 or so, a LAPD went up to the 32nd floor, and there should have been a firefight with the gunman, and then there was no movement after that.

The poor guy should have been taken out, in my estimation.”

Jotham was a little puzzled, “Why would a LAPD pop up here?”

“He was traveling.”

Jotham shook his head, “Poor guy, this is Nevada, and the criminals here aren’t pussies like in LA.

You should have warned him, he was a little impulsive, but courageous.”

Kendi shrugged, “I stopped him, but he was hell bent on being a hero, so all I could do was lend him my bulletproof vest.”

Jotham patted him on the shoulder, “It’s not your fault. We’ll avenge him and get your body armor back in the process.

Show that gang of thugs what the LVPD can do.”

Afterwards, Joson called the commandos over again and began to organize their tasks.

According to Joson’s guess, the door to the stairwell on the 32nd floor should have been opened by that LAPD, and there was no gunman found in the corridor on the 32nd floor, nor was there any dead body of the LAPD, and Joson guessed that they should have had a firefight in the gunman’s room.

In this regard, Jomson also laid out a thorough plan, he felt that the gunman may be more than just hiding in a room, in addition, in terms of breaking the door they have made sufficient preparation, first of all, door breakers, if the door breakers can not work, they have also prepared explosives.

After everything was ready, Josen took the heavily armed commandos up to the 32nd floor.

Joson stood at the stairway and checked the 32nd floor corridor and found nothing suspicious, he was about to arrange his next move when the intercom suddenly went off.

Joson held out his right fist and made a stop gesture, then stepped aside to answer the intercom.

“Hello, this is Josen.”

The look on his face changed and changed.

After a while, Josen finished the call and walked over with a gloomy face, “There’s been a change in plans.”

The black lieutenant next to him asked, “Captain, what happened?”

“That LAPD didn’t die.”

The black lieutenant guessed, “Is that idiot being held hostage? What a way to find trouble. Now there’s another hostage rescue mission.”

“No,” Jolson held his tongue before saying, “He exchanged fire with the suspect, wounded him, and the suspect killed himself.”

“WHAT?” the black lieutenant thought he’d heard wrong, “You mean he overpowered the shooter all by himself?”

“That’s right, the Chief just called and said the shooter was alone, what a lucky guy.”

The black lieutenant said, “The chief wasn’t there, how did he know? Could it be a false message sent by the shooter, a deliberate trap?”

“Unlikely, the chief of the LAPD personally contacted the Las Vegas city commissioner, and the message was relayed layer by layer.”

The black lieutenant said, “I think we still can’t take this lightly, we can’t joke with our brothers’ lives.”

Josen nodded, “You’re right. Get the team ready for a firefight.”

Joson rearranged things a bit and had the team check out the front and found that the door to the room the gunman was in was open, believing the news a few times.

Jotham then personally walked near the gunman’s room and shouted, “Listen up in there, you’re surrounded, get your hands on the floor and don’t move!”

“Hey guys from the Las Vegas Police Department, you’re finally here.

I’m Lieutenant Luke Lee of the LAPD, there’s no danger at the scene, the shooter killed himself after I wounded him.

You guys can come in with confidence.”

Jolson wasn’t easily convinced, “Cut the crap, put your hands up and walk where I can see you.”

“I’m really LAPD, you guys don’t want to rub it in.”

“I’ll restrain my men, you step out boldly.”

“FUCK!”Luke cursed in his heart, but a man has to bow his head under the roof, he could only raise his hands and slowly walk to the position facing the door.

Then, a group of heavily armed l police rushed in.

“lvpd! don’t move!”

“Toilet search complete, clear!”

“Found a white male deceased.”

“Clear!”

In the crowd, Luke also saw the white police officer hiding on the 31st floor: “Man, you should have lent me the walkie-talkie along.”

The white police officer, Kendi, looked at Luke with some incredulity, “I …… thought you were dead.”

“I thought you went for a midnight snack.”

Commando Leader Jolson interrupted the two men, “We’re going to have to search you routinely, you should understand that, uh-huh.”

“That’s not necessary, I’m a cop too.”

“There are plenty of cops, and there are cops in the Woolly Bear country, you have no law enforcement powers here, and you shouldn’t be at the scene of a shooting, so we’re just following the rules of a routine frisk and cooperating.”

Luke was not happy in his heart, but there was nothing he could do about it, “Find a female police officer, I don’t like being touched by men.”

Then, over came a female police officer to frisk Luke.

“Hey, don’t take my pistol, and my badge ……”

“Give him the badge.” Jolson looked at what was recovered from Luke, “You’re actually wearing a law enforcement recorder?”

“Getting used to it.”

“The gun and the law enforcement recorder I’m taking.”

“Those are assets belonging to the LAPD.”

“Don’t worry, it will be returned to the LAPD when the case is cleared up, but for now this law enforcement recorder captured the crime scene and needs to be kept by the Las Vegas Police Department.”

Luke nodded, “Can I go now?”

“No, you’re a cop too, you should know very well that you need to go to the police station to make a statement in this case.”

Josen pointed to the lieutenant next to him, “You take him back to the station.”

The black lieutenant made a gesture of invitation, “Man, come with me.”

The two commandos stood at Luke’s side as he sighed softly, “You Vegas people are so welcoming, you’re welcome to visit LA too.”

Luke left the room.

A group of Las Vegas police officers looked around at the scene.

Jolson pounded his fist hard against the wall, “FUCK!”