"Go see Noah at the hospital first, Cage, don't worry, there are already a lot of people on this side of the dam bridge, no problem."
Jimmy hung up the phone and looked toward the suspect holding hostages in the middle.
Noah was the officer Jimmy was most familiar with when he had just joined the police force because Noah had mentored him for a long time, taught him how to use a gun, how to handle cases, how to deal with emergencies, how to safely protect himself, and had provided assessments for him as an FTO during his independent patrols.
Although he didn't work much with Noah usually, Jimmy hadn't forgotten the help Noah had provided him.
Now Noah had been injured by this bastard, and the situation was unclear, causing Jimmy's anger to erupt instantaneously.
Jimmy walked directly to the side of the frontline police. Since this was a pedestrian walkway with no cover, the current position of the police was actually very dangerous. Although pistols had a long range, this area was undoubtedly within the shooting range of the suspect's handgun.
Heart Eye was not distant enough; currently, the distance between him and the suspect was over 20 meters, whereas after prolonged use, Heart Eye's maximum range was estimated to be no more than 15 meters.
But even without Heart Eye's assistance, Jimmy's marksmanship was sufficient to kill the suspect instantly; now he just needed to wait for a moment, a moment when the suspect moved the gun away from the hostage's head.
City Police at the front continued to shout at the suspect, demanding the release of the hostage. While the suspect's attention was distracted, Jimmy moved closer to the suspect from the side. Jimmy, the suspect, and other officers formed a triangular position, and the police from the other side of the dam bridge also moved closer after the pedestrians had left, reaching behind the suspect.
The suspect glanced left and right at the police, brought the hostage to the edge of the bridge, and placed her in front of him against the railing as a shield.
The hostage was a woman, not very tall; her head could only cover up to the suspect's nose. After the initial panic, she was now just quietly sobbing, not daring to move arbitrarily, only standing as the suspect commanded, blocking his front.
Jimmy kept his eyes on the suspect's hands. He wouldn't allow the suspect to surrender by throwing away the gun. If there was any movement of the gun, Jimmy was ready to shoot and kill him.
The standoff continued. Although there were no other people around except for police, the number of officers was too great, and nobody was willing to make the decision to concede the hostage first.
The suspect kept shaking his head looking back and forth at the police, his hand holding the gun also trembling. Initially, he was just out having fun with a friend; who knew a disagreement could escalate to this? The confused and nervous suspect could only cling desperately to the hostage, afraid to let go.
The police were still shouting to have him release the hostage and surrender. Everyone was waiting, waiting for a chance to break the deadlock to appear.
The suspect, holding onto the hostage, inched backward even though he was already leaning against the railing, still attempting to move further back.
"Let me go, step back, I have a hostage, let me go," the suspect shouted, his voice trembling.
Perhaps the hostage, having gotten past the initial adrenaline surge, suddenly felt her legs go weak, her body slid down slightly, and the suspect immediately reached out to pull her up, but it was too late. Jimmy, who had been watching the suspect and not participating in the shouting, had his gun trained on the suspect the whole time, just waiting for a moment.
Now the moment had arrived. The hostage's downward movement caused the suspect's entire head to become exposed, and as he reached out to pull the hostage, his gun had already moved away from the hostage's head. With a "bang," Jimmy fired a shot directly into the side of the suspect's nose. Blood sprayed from the back of the suspect's head, his upper body leaned back, and he flipped over the railing. Other police officers immediately rushed forward, some to help the hostage, others peering over the railing to locate the fallen suspect.
Jimmy stopped in place and did not move, just holstering his revolver. He took out his phone and pressed the dial-out key, calling Cage again.
"Hey, Cage, have you reached the hospital?"
"Yeah, I'm here, Noah is in the emergency room getting treated, no life-threatening injuries."
"That's great news, everything's resolved here; I'm heading back to headquarters now."
Jimmy hung up the phone, turned, and walked toward the end of the bridge, opened the police car door, picked up the radio, and notified the dispatch center.
"A28 calling dispatch center, the case has been handled, cancel 999 status."
"Received, is an ambulance needed at the scene?"
"Not needed, no one is injured."
"Received."
Jimmy set down the radio, took out cigarettes and a lighter from the glove compartment, leaned against the patrol car to smoke, and tried to ease his earlier tension.
When he had received the message from Cage that Noah was injured, he was furious. Although he hadn't seen the suspect's body yet, Jimmy was absolutely certain about his earlier shot; unless the suspect wasn't human, his brain had been hit by a .357 Magnum bullet, and he was dead for sure.
After resting for a few minutes, the police on the bridge also came down, each driving off in their patrol cars. Jimmy had returned earliest but was essentially the last to leave. He was the only one who had fired his weapon, bearing all the pressure alone; others didn't need to rest as he did, to relieve the tension.
Back at the station, Cage's call came through just in time.
"Jimmy, Noah is alright now. The suspect used a 9mm bullet which went through Noah's shoulder; he's probably going to need 2-3 weeks of rest. The doctors have already treated his wound, and he's resting in the hospital room now."
"That's great news, let me know when Noah wakes up, and I'll visit him in the hospital. Oh, and Cage, we need to look for the suspect's body on the dam bridge tomorrow, arrange that, please."
"Alright, that's it for now, I'm heading back."
Jimmy hung up the phone, returned to his desk, where his pizza had gone cold a long time ago. He threw it into the microwave to reheat, continuing to replenish his energy.
From noon to 11 PM, Jimmy had only snacked on some candies and snacks; he was quite hungry now. Although a microwaved pizza wasn't as tasty as one fresh out of the oven, he couldn't be bothered about that; he didn't know what other problems might still arise that night, so filling his stomach was the most important thing.
It was past midnight when the dispatch center suddenly mentioned Jimmy's call sign.
"A28, shooting incident, intersection of Highway 30 and 357, Interstate Park Ballpark."
A new location, a place Jimmy had hardly ever visited, in the southern part of Little Rock, just outside the city limits. The area was surrounded by forest, devoid of residents.
Jimmy drove to respond to the call, and it took him half an hour to find the ballpark location, where Officer Allen from the South District substation was already handling the scene.
Jimmy parked his cruiser, walked over to the ballpark, which was a baseball field, not a basketball court, and quite large. Officer Allen was taking photos when Jimmy greeted him and then saw the twisted body.
This was the body of a Caucasian male, heavily bearded, his age indiscernible, but his body was awkwardly twisted, lying on its side with both arms and legs contorted. The fatal wound was to the head, the bullet entering from the back of the skull and exiting through the forehead, with no other apparent injuries.
There were no significant bloodstains on the ground; this might not have been the original crime scene, but rather a place to which the body had been moved.
"Allen, did you notify the coroner's office?"
"Yes, they've been notified, but they're quite far from here, might take about ten more minutes."
"Any sign of the gunman?"
"No, the caretaker here heard a gunshot around midnight, called it in, and after I arrived and searched, I found this body. The gunshot didn't occur here though.
The caretaker heard the shot but didn't come out to check, just stayed in the watch-room and waited for us to arrive, so no trace of the gunman was found.
Oh, since it's Christmas, there was only one caretaker on duty today, the others were off."
Jimmy surveyed the site and the surroundings again, which were very secluded, surrounded by the woods, with the ballpark itself located in a park. In such an environment, it was virtually impossible to conduct an investigation; it would have to rely on the dead man's autopy findings later.
"Allen, you keep waiting for the coroner; I'll head back to headquarters to await further deployment from the dispatch center."
Jimmy, having picked up a bad habit from Cage, decided that in a case that seemed to be leading nowhere, it was simply best to wait for the autopsy report to determine the next steps of investigation; there was no need to waste time at the scene any longer.