Chapter 439

Blackie left with Antoine Powell, and Luke didn’t want to have too much contact with the black boy under these sensitive circumstances.

Luke personally led the team to search the supermarket carefully and did not find any suspicious people.

People from the technical team and forensics also rushed to the scene, only that the crime scene was too big and there were too many victims to complete the scene investigation in a short period of time.

Luke called Reed and asked him to send more manpower, the sooner the scene investigation is completed, the more helpful it will be in solving the case.

Luke’s men have already dispersed out to investigate, just for the time being, they have not found out the exact news of the shooter, and every additional minute, the murderer will have one more minute to escape.

Luke takes a moment to place himself in the shoes of the shooter, what would he have done after killing so many people if he were the shooter?

And why did the shooter carry out the massacre?

Was it simply because he was an extreme racist and created this killing out of disgust for black people?

Just then, Luke’s eyes caught the rest of his eye and saw three people walking not far away, Blackie and Powell’s mother and son.

Blacky said, “Captain, Mrs. Powell said she wanted to thank you personally.”

Mrs. Powell walked forward with a grateful look on her face, “Captain Lee, I’ve heard it all from Antoine, thank you for finding him.

If you hadn’t found him hiding in the ventilation ducts, this silly boy would probably still be in there.”

“It’s what I should have done.” Luke looked down at the black boy, “Hey man, can I talk to you for a second?”

The black boy looked over at his mother and after seeing her encouraging expression, said, “Sure.”

“The shooter has been gone for so long, why haven’t you been coming out of the ventilation ducts?”

The black boy looked left and right and whispered, “I was afraid.”

“Scared of what?”

“I was afraid that the gunman would shoot me.”

“But he’s gone, the police have taken control of the supermarket, what do you have to be afraid of?”

The black boy looked even more nervous: “I saw the gunman …… He didn’t leave the supermarket, no, I don’t know if he did ……

I don’t know what to say.”

“Don’t be nervous, just tell us what you saw and what you heard and we’ll judge for ourselves.”

The black boy looked over at his mother and saw her nod before slowly saying, “I saw the gunman, he was killing people all over the supermarket and I was so scared I hid in the ventilation ducts.

I had a feeling he might have taken off his gear and I didn’t know what he was going to do or if he would kill again and the police never caught him so I was afraid to come out.”

Luke pressed, “You saw the killer take off his gear?”

“I didn’t see it with my own eyes.” The black boy organized his words and said, “I was hiding in the ventilation ducts because climbing makes noise, and I hid not far from the mouth of the ducts, from where I could see outside, but the ducts were darker, so I couldn’t see inside from the outside.

I saw the shooter kill people and I was terrified.

He killed everyone he could see and there was no movement outside.

After another moment, I saw a white man rush out, and at first I thought he was a customer of the supermarket, but he wasn’t like the ones who ran away.

And the gunman didn’t chase him, and it was only after this man left that I felt something was wrong.

According to my speculation, the gunman should have been near the lockers, and the white man was also in that neighborhood but dared to strut out, there was no reason for the gunman not to kill him, but the gunman didn’t shoot.

So my guess is that the man was probably the shooter.

He took off his gear so you guys wouldn’t have been able to catch him.

He’s probably hiding somewhere, and the police haven’t caught him, and I’m afraid to come out for fear he’ll suddenly kill again.”

“Then why didn’t you say anything just now?”

“You all had your guns pointed at me and I was scared.”

Luke stared at the other man, the boy’s expression was still a little panicked and nervous, which made the micro-expression analysis more difficult.

“Did you see anything else?”

“Gunshots, people running away, blood …… That’s all I noticed.” Antoine Powell winced.

Sasha Powell put his arm around his son’s shoulder, “Captain Lee, Antoine is terrified, he hasn’t been very bold since he was a kid.”

Luke nodded, “Can you describe the shooter’s appearance?”

“He was white and wore a hat, a gray baseball cap.

I only got one look at him, I didn’t dare keep staring at him.”

Antoine Powell’s description was so brief that Luke had to inquire for himself, “How tall was the shooter probably?”

“He’s probably about six-foot-eight. Or maybe a little taller, I can’t be sure.”

“What kind of clothes was he wearing?”

“Looks like a beige jumper and blue pants.”

“What about shoes?”

“I didn’t notice.”

“What color was his hair?”

“The baseball cap got in the way, I didn’t see it.”

“And his features?”

Antoine Powell shook his head.

“Any tattoos.”

“Don’t know.”

“Where did he run to?”

“The ventilation ducts have a narrow view, I …… am not sure.”

“Does he still have a weapon on him?”

“I’m not sure.” Antoine Powell shook his head and sighed, “That’s all I know, really.”

Luke held out his right hand, “Antoine, thank you for the tip, you’re a brave lad.”

Antoine Powell breathed a sigh of relief and shook Luke’s hand, “Were the clues useful?”

“Of course.”

“Will you catch the shooter?”

“Of course.”

After dropping off Antoine Powell and his mother, Luke sent the suspected shooter’s information to the group.

Luke, as the person in charge of the shooting, kept his eyes on the scene at the supermarket.

Reed sent two more forensic teams and a large number of scene investigators.

It took until two o’clock in the afternoon for the three medical examiners to complete the initial autopsy.

Luke communicated with each of the forensic pathologists, but this time the forensic pathologists didn’t provide many new clues, not that the forensic pathologists weren’t technically competent, but the murderer had broadcast the entire process of the crime live, which in itself didn’t leave much suspense.

All of the dead were black, everyone was shot three to four times in the body, most were shot in the back, and there was no question about the time of death.

Luke communicated with the tech team again, and a large number of bullet casings were found at the scene, mostly all rifle casings and only a dozen or so bullets for handguns, and they also found IDs on the dead.

Again, the tech team didn’t find too many valuable clues.

On the contrary, Mary was a treasure when she saw the gear the suspected shooter had taken off, and the first thing she did was to send it back to the Detective Bureau for identification.

Luke also hoped that they would be able to get something, and if they could identify the shooter, they wouldn’t have to work blindly.

The scene investigation was in the closing stages, and Luke returned to the detective bureau and called a meeting.

Luke said, “Six hours have passed since we took over the case, let’s talk about the progress of the investigation.”

Jackson’s face was grave, “I’ve identified all the victims, there are thirteen victims of this shooting, the death toll has exceeded ten, and there are still three injured being treated in the hospital.

All ten of the dead are black, and the three injured one white, one black, and one Asian.” Jackson sighed, “As much as I hate to admit it, this case does look like a massacre against blacks.”

Jenny said, “Ramon and I were in charge of finding witnesses, there were people who witnessed the killer from the time he got out of the car to the time he opened fire, one of the witnesses was standing near the supermarket, he was a white man and the shooter didn’t shoot him at that time but prioritized shooting the black man next to him.

We interviewed all the eyewitnesses, and their descriptions were generally the same: the gunman was heavily armed, could not be seen, could not even identify his race, was about 5’8″ tall, and shot decisively and without hesitation.

The eyewitnesses also did not see the gunman leave the supermarket.

Meanwhile, according to the eyewitnesses’ descriptions, the black Honda in front of the supermarket was indeed the vehicle driven by the gunman.”

Luke took the initiative to ask, “Porter, what clues did the suspect vehicle turn up?”

Porter shook his head slightly, “It was a set car, the car’s engine number, frame number and other markings that could identify the vehicle were smoothed out, and the technique was very to professional, most likely done by a car theft team.”

Luke looked to the side of Blackie, “Marcus, you are responsible for investigating the origin of that car.”

“No problem.” Blacky answered with a smile, and seeing that everyone had reported on the progress of the investigation, he chimed in, “Together with the captain, I found Antoine Powell, yes, that’s right, the little wit who was hiding in the ventilation ducts.

He saw what the shooter looked like, a young white man, around five-foot-eight, which is the same as the eyewitness description.

In addition, this white man was wearing a baseball cap, a beige sweatshirt and blue pants;as long as we line up all the people who left the supermarket, we can determine the identity of this gunman.”

Black finished, showing a look of quick praise.

The crowd spoke, and the vice squad cleared their throats, “I’m in charge of investigating all the people who left the supermarket after the shooting occurred, because the murderer destroyed the supermarket’s cameras, so this investigation is somewhat difficult;

I found some suspected eyewitnesses who had been to the supermarket or near the supermarket by checking the surveillance around the supermarket, and all I have to do now is to ask them to come to the police station to make statements.

But because only these people are surveillance video screenshots, and did not check their identities, there is a certain degree of difficulty in the investigation, I wanted to let Matthew to assist me, but the boy refused.”

Matthew spread his hands, “Vice team, this has nothing to do with me, I’m not refusing or not wanting to help you, I just have more important things to do.”

“OK, then say it and listen.”

Seeing the crowd looking at him, Matthew looked back at each one and said aloud, “I found out the identity of the shooter.”

The vice squad was a bit unconvinced, “Kid, you haven’t even been out of the office door, don’t talk big.”

Blackie was also a bit unconvinced, we’ve been out there running our legs off, but it’s still no better than you moving your hands, “Man, how did you find it?”

Matthew smiled, “This is also thanks to you, remember that live video account you mentioned? I found out the real identity of the account owner.” Matthew stood up and handed Luke a freshly printed copy of the information.

“Great job!” Luke gave a thumbs up.

Blackie also came over to look at it, after all, he had a part in it.

Matthew looked over to the side of his lieutenant, “It’s really not that I don’t want to help, it’s just that I’ve been doing this all along.”

The lieutenant asked back, “So are you done?”

“Yes, I’m done.”

“Then join me in verifying the identities of all the people who have been to the supermarket.”

“I’ve already identified the shooter, so why bother with a more complicated lineup?”

The vice squad held out three fingers, “Point one, what you found is only the owner of the live streaming account, he may not necessarily be the shooter.

The second point, even if the owner of the live streaming account is the shooter, there’s no way to convict him if there’s not enough evidence, and those who’ve been to the supermarket could very well be eyewitnesses.

Thirdly, no one can guarantee that the gunman committed the crime alone, he most likely had accomplices, and those accomplices might have been in the supermarket at the time, and to summarize, my mission is the most important.”

Matthew “……”

After all that, you’re just going to summarize it with that last sentence?

This fucking desire to win.

Never seen an old man like you.

The lieutenant looked over to Luke, who was off to the side, “Captain, what do you think?”

Matthew looked to Luke as well.

Luke didn’t want to join in the argument between the two directly, “Lieutenant, you stay in the office and the rest of you move with me.”

“YES, Sir.”

After Luke led the group away, the lieutenant pointed at Matthew, “I’m the biggest in this office now, kid, you know what to do.”

It wasn’t that Luke didn’t want to help Matthew, but he agreed with what the vice squad had said, verifying the identities of all the people leaving the supermarket was still necessary.

Other than that, the profile Matthew had given of the owner of this account didn’t match Antoine Powell’s description of the shooter’s appearance.

Luke got in his car and took a picture of this profile and sent it to the chat group.

Name, Darci Jordan

Race, African-American

Gender, male

Age, 17.

Address, 308 Sardinian neighborhood

Social Security number, 623-57-7323.

School Attended, Luther King III High School

Xiao Hei in the back row of the car frowned slightly after seeing this information, “This is not the same as what we investigated ah, the shooter should be a white person, but the account holder is black.

Matthew this kid can’t be wrong, right?”

Luke said, “Matthew shouldn’t have made a technical error.

I think there should be three possibilities, the first possibility, this account is not the gunman’s own, but the gunman’s accomplice’s.

The second possibility, this account has nothing to do with the shooter, just like the black Honda, it’s just the shooter’s tool of the trade.

The third possibility, the owner of this account is indeed the gunman, and Antoine Powell’s description is wrong.”

Black blushed slightly and guessed, “You think Antoine Powell is lying to us, or has deliberately fictionalized a white gunman to intentionally misdirect our investigation.”

Jackson said, “Is he still just a kid with the balls to deceive the police? I find it unlikely.”

Blackie said, “Rookie, don’t underestimate black kids, they don’t know what fear is or even care about God.”

Luke thought for a moment, “Your guess is possible, but I don’t really see him lying.”

Luke’s statement, in turn, confused Black, “Then what do you mean?”

Luke explained, “Actually, Antoine Powell didn’t really see much with his own eyes.

First of all, he didn’t see the gunman take off his clothes and equipment with his own eyes, and the only reason why he thought the white man was the gunman was because the man wasn’t far away from the gunman and wasn’t being shot at by the gunman.

There is some basis for this speculation, and I agree in theory that it is more likely, but not absolute.

I have carefully analyzed that there are three other possibilities as to why the gunman did not shoot the man.

The first possibility is that the gunman had already left by then and did not see the white man, who only dared to run out from his hiding place after seeing the gunman leave.

The second possibility is that the white man was an accomplice of the gunman and that is why the gunman did not kill him.

The third possibility, the gunman didn’t know the white man, and didn’t have any relationship with the white man, but just didn’t want to kill him.”

Hearing this, an anger rose in Xiao Hei’s heart, yes, how did I forget this point, this gunman is not at all an indiscriminate killing, but a massacre against black people.

Luke saw Xiao Hei’s expression from the rearview mirror, knowing that he was unhappy in his heart, he deliberately changed the topic and comforted, “Even if that white man is not the shooter, he has seen the shooter, and may even be the shooter’s accomplices, this person is important to the solving of the case, it is still necessary to find him.”

Half an hour later, the car pulled into the Sardinian neighborhood, a typical black neighborhood not far from the supermarket where the shooting took place.

Jackson drove while looking at the door numbers on the side of the road, 305, 306 ……

“Guys, we’re here.” Jackson let go of the gas.

Blackie leaned over the seat in front of him, looked forward through the gap in the center, and slammed Jackson’s shoulder, “Hey, hey, hey, hey, don’t stop, gas up and drive straight through!”

Jackson was a little confused, but did as he was told, “What went wrong?”

Blacky explained, “See those two black boys on the bikes? The two of them are on sentry duty, and as soon as you pull over you’ll be instantly exposed.”

Luke noticed the two black kids as well, neither looked too old, “You think they’re gangbangers?”

Jackson glanced at the two boys on bikes out of the corner of his eye, “No way, they don’t look too old to me, they shouldn’t even be ten.”

Blacky grunted, “A kid from the black ghetto can join a gang as long as he can hold a gun, it’s not like he has to go to college, there’s no limit on age.

If they can survive to adulthood, they will already be the backbone of the gang.”

Seeing Jackson’s still somewhat skeptical expression, Blackie added, “Believe it or not, these two boys are definitely carrying guns on them.”

Luke also watched through the rearview mirror and realized that the two black kids had been staring at their car until it drove far away.

“Looks like we’re in the right place this time, but we need to find a way to pull these two nails out first.”

Luke looked over at Blackie in the rearview mirror, “Marcus, you’re in command of this capture mission.”

Blacky’s eyes widened and he seemed a little flattered, “Luke, are you serious?”

“It doesn’t look like you’re very willing, or else Jackson instead?”

Jackson smiled, “Captain, I’m willing to serve.”

“No No No, I’m available, this rookie doesn’t know anything about the black community, if he’s allowed to command it he’ll surely mess things up.” Black rushed out to stop, jokingly, if Jackson was allowed to climb on top of him, would he still want this black face of his?

Luke twisted his head to look at him, “Marcus, can I trust you?”

“Of course.” Blackie puffed out his chest, regaining his old confidence and vigor.

He was also a man with a wife and child now, so how could he get a promotion and a raise if he didn’t do a good job?

This was the black community he was most familiar with, such a good opportunity, if he didn’t perform well, wouldn’t he be letting down Luke’s intentions.

Even if his arrest plan wasn’t tight, there was still Luke to cover his ass, wasn’t there?

He was not too smart, but he could also see that Luke was giving himself a chance, and intended to cultivate himself.

He must not let down his trust!