Greg, Ed, Megan and Spike all stood in a row while several SIU investigators took pictures of their gear.
While they stood in the middle of the gym, Winnie, Kiera and Jules stood over near the dispatcher's desk.
"Why are you here?" Kiera asked Jules.
"Jeep's still in the shop. Came to pick up Megan, how long do you think this is going to take?"
"Well, based on the fact that their call took less than a half hour from the time I received the call from central dispatch, to the time that they came back, and the fact that there is four silent, double patient medical wagons going to the City Morgue as we speak-" Winnie said, "Could be a while."
"Megan's first?" Kiera asked.
Jules assumed she was asking if this was Megan's first SIU inspection, "Yeah." She replied.
SIU lead Team One down to conference room one to start processing.
"We all know what happened, ok?" Greg said, as they all sat down in the provided chairs, "We're just relaying the facts, make sure we cross our T's and dot our I's."
"You're sequestered." An officer said, as he stepped into the room to watch over the team, "You know what that means."
"Actually I…" Megan started.
"It means we can't talk to each other until after the hearing is finished." Ed explained.
"What did I just say?" the officer snapped back.
The door opened and the officer popped his head out and some inaudible whispering could be heard.
After the hushed conversation was over, he brought his head back into the room.
"Michelangelo Scarlatti- you're up."
"Your name, for the record please." The SIU inspector asked Spike.
"Michelangelo Scarlatti. My team refers to me as Spike, which you'll find in the transcript. Some people refer to me as Mike."
"Thank you. Why don't you tell us what happened?"
"We received the call…"
"Team One! Hot call! Hot call!" Winnie yelled out, "Shooting in progress at St. Georgian High School."
The team quickly got together and reported to the scene.
"Spike, you're in the truck." Greg said.
"Boss, we got an active shooter in that school, where we currently have over 500 students at risk. I need the manpower." Ed asked.
"Do you agree with Ed's decision to use you inside the school, instead of gathering intel?" the inspector asked.
"Yes."
"Please continue."
Following Ed and Megan, who held ballistic shields- Spike walked behind them.
"First responders say that the last shot came from the 1st hallway on your left." Greg radioed in.
"We need a full lockdown." Ed said, as Megan nodded.
"In progress Eddie, you guys have a blanketing Scorpio- we need to stop what's going on here today."
Ed signaled for Spike to hang back, as Megan and Ed entered the hallway first, with the shields. From the other side of the hallway, and unable to see what was going on, Spike heard three gunshots.
"One suspect down…how many left?" Megan asked with a slight quiver in her voice.
"Unknown." Greg replied, "Please be careful."
"So your Team Leader told you to stay back?" the inspector asked.
"Yes. " Spike answered, "Both him and OIT.."
"OIT- what does that stand for?"
"Officer in Training."
"Ok, thank you." The inspector thanked, making a note of it, "Continue."
"Both Ed and Megan were carrying ballistic shields, and therefore were more equipped to handle the front flank."
"Thank you Mr. Scarlatti," the inspector said, "I think I got everything I need from you."
"But I didn't even tell you everything that happened."
"Yes, but you just admitted that you were not the responding officer to any of the remaining incidents, correct?"
"I'm part of SRU Team One, so I am a responding officer."
"Did you, in the course of your duties today, have to enact the order of Scorpio?"
"No."
"Then, it's clear that both Edward Lane and Megan Perrasmith shot and killed the 4 shooters, meaning I should be talking to them, not you. Thank you for your time."
"What is your role, as part of SRU Team One?"
Greg spoke into the microphone, "My role is Team Sargent."
"You command Michelangelo "Spike" Scarlatti, Ed Lane, and Megan Perrasmith?"
"Yes."
"Ok, why don't you tell me everything that happened after you spoke to your team, and I quote, from what Officer Scarlatti told me and the transcript says, 'In progress Eddie, you guys have a blanketing Scorpio- we need to stop what's going on here today.' "
"In progress Eddie, you guys have a blanketing Scorpio- we need to stop what's going on here today." Greg said.
Suddenly a teacher approached him. "I'm looking for…"
"Sir, our goal is to get all of the students out of there safely." Greg assured her, "Is there anything you can tell me?"
Then Greg heard three shots over the radio.
"One suspect down- how many left?" Megan asked over the radio.
"Unknown." Greg replied, "Please be careful."
"Sorry about that Sir," Greg apologized, "Please continue."
"I was just coming in." he explained, "I'm the junior soccer team coach, and we were at a tournament in St. Catherines. When the bus was pulling in, I saw four men pull up in that car, and get out, with guns, and they ran into the school."
"Were you able to get a good look at them? What did they look like?"
"No- they were wearing ski masks."
"What kind of guns did they have with them? Handguns, rifles?"
"Assault weapons, I'd guess an AK or an AR?" he said, "My team likes to play Call of Duty when we're on away games."
Greg nodded, as he walked away from the coach, "Listen up team- we have four gun men, according to an eye witness who saw them enter the school. We got one down, brings us to three. The witness says they were carrying assault weapons."
"It fits." Megan said, "The last guy was carrying a Colt AR15. Looked like it was military issue- probably has the fun switch installed."
"Winnie- I have a plate for you to run, Alpha Charlie, Fifty Seven, Five, Five, Five."
"Copy that boss, running the plate."
"What was the result of the search of the plates?" the inspector asked, making notes in the file.
"The plates came up stolen from a truck in Newmarket. It made sense, because the DMV wouldn't issue plates formatted in double alphanumeric followed by five numbers to a car. They only issue those types of plates to trucks." Greg explained.
"So it didn't help you answer the question that your Team Leader asked next?"
"What's the MO here boss?" Ed asked.
"I don't have any leads here. Keep it covered and me informed."
"Copy that."
"No, it didn't help us identify the motive of the shooters." Greg admitted.
"Now that this critical incident is over, what do you think was the motive- from a professional standpoint, obviously?"
"As the EMTs were carting out the bodies, I discerned that all the shooters seemed to be…."
"Be what?"
"They weren't Caucasian." Greg pointed out, "They were of a different nationality. St. Georgian High School's demographic is typically upper class Caucasian."
"Are you purposely being racist?"
"No, it was just my observation."
"Please continue Sargent."
"Alpha team heading west and taking heavy fire!" Ed yelled into the radio.
"You have Scorpio, Eddie." Greg reminded.
"No solution, no solution- fall back, fall back!"
"Ed- I got the solution!" Megan yelled.
"Take it!"
"So according to your tally Sargent, your Officer in Training, at this point, had fatally shot two people, correct?"
"We shoot to kill, so yes." Greg answered, "What is this about?"
"Just getting the facts together, Sargent, you know the drill- so I can present the proper figures to the press upon the request of a press release."
Greg leaned over and turned the microphone off.
"So what?" Greg asked, "You're going to point out that it was an officer in training who did all of this? Because that's not going to do nothing but either excel or slow down her career, depending on how you word things."
"I'm gathering the facts, and determining if there was just cause for the deaths of the four suspects, three students and a teacher."
"We didn't cause the deaths of the student or the teacher."
"I know."
"Edward Lane- you are the Team Leader and Tactician?"
"Yes." Came Ed's reply.
"Good." The inspector replied, "So Officer In Training Megan Perrasmith was in good hands then?"
"Yes." Ed responded, "She was- that and she is an excellent officer in her own right who is capable of making her own split second decisions."
"Is it true that she is undergoing emotional therapy?"
"Yes."
"For what exactly?"
"To help her cope with the death of her father."
"I'm sorry to hear that." The inspector said, as he reached forward and stopped the recording, "How did he die?"
"He was shot in the neck by an angry journalist while providing additional courthouse security. Why don't we talk about today's shooting?"
He turned the recorder back on.
"Why don't we? Megan Perrasmith shot how many of the four suspects?"
"Three."
"And you shot the last one?"
"Correct."
"Do you believe that the order Scorpio was justified?"
"Yes- when we have a large, uncontainable building filled with the lives of innocent people, we must protect them first, and therefore the Scorpio order was justified. Are you seriously asking about Use of Force? Look at the National Model."
"I'm well versed with the National Model of the Use of Force." The inspector assured Ed, "Tell me what happened- starting from the point where you asked your boss about the motive of the shooting."
"Ok."
"What's the MO here boss?" Ed asked.
"I don't have any leads here. Keep it covered and me informed." Greg answered.
"Copy that."
Megan and Ed continued on.
"You ok, OIT Perrasmith?" Ed asked.
"Yes, sir- fine and dandy."
"Good. Let's keep the peace."
Ed started to turn a corner that would lead them into a hallway that faced west, but he suddenly came to a stop when both his shield and Megan's started blocking heavy fire.
"Alpha team heading west and taking heavy fire!" Ed yelled.
"You have Scorpio, Eddie." Greg reminded.
"No solution, no solution- fall back, fall back!"
"Ed- I got the solution!" Megan responded.
"Take it!"
Megan dropped her shield, and used the adjacent wall as cover and carefully lined up her shot and took it.
"Another suspect down." Megan radioed in, "Two to go."
"Are you comfortable with the language that your Officer In Training used?"
"Yes."
"Because it would seem like she's making a 'kill count'- you know how that sounds, right?"
"It is her job to annotate her actions while in the field." Ed explained, "That is how those transcripts get made. That is why they are as factual as possible."
"Thank you, Ed." The inspector said.
"We finished?" Ed asked.
"No- two more questions. What was your frame of mind when you started your shift today?"
"Why do you ask?"
"Because in his shift journal, your Sargent noted that you appeared to be frustrated. Problems in the home life?"
"My son came home last week with bruises on his stomach, and his shirt and pants ripped. When I asked him about it, he got mad at me, and swore."
"I'm sorry to hear that. Now my second question- do you think that the drugs that Megan Perrasmith is being prescribed as part of her emotional therapy was a factor in today's shooting?"
"No."
Megan sat alone in the conference room, other than the officer who stood guard over her.
"Long day?" she asked him.
"No talking." He said, as a knock came at the door.
He opened the door, and went into the hall. He wasn't out there long as he came back in.
"Megan- you're last. I'll walk you up."
Megan got up and went out the open door and walked down the hallway to the stairs which would lead her to the debriefing room. She looked back and realized that the officer was having a hard time keeping up with her.
"I know the way." She said, as she continued going.
Megan sat down across the table. In front of her were several files filed with papers, a small speaker attached to the external hard-drive that the transcript was saved to, along with several more papers with hand written notes on them.
Across from her, a man was sitting down, but behind him, was a taller, blonde woman.
"I'll take it, Blair." the woman said, as she sent the man out of the room, and sat down in his place.
Using the remote in her hand, she closed the doors to the room.
"Hi, Megan, my name is Jenna Preiur."
"Ok."
"I knew your dad."
Megan looked exasperated, "Of course you did."
"What do you mean?" Jenna asked.
"Everybody knows my dad, ok? And every time anybody mentions my dad, it just reminds me that he's gone. Can we get this over with?"
"Sure," she said, as she leaned in and turned on the recorder, "Tell me what happened-"
"Another suspect down." Megan radioed in, "Two to go."
"Please be careful." Greg commented.
"Noted boss." Ed said, as they continued on.
"Ed- I just tapped into the CCTV," Spike relayed, "Two shooters- close to you- take your next right, and through the doors- they're right there in the hall. Looks like they have a student and maybe a parent or a teacher hostage, lying on the ground."
"Let us know if their position changes Spike." Ed said, as he followed Spike's directions to the door in question, "Megan, I will open the door. You'll enter and neutralize one shooter, I'll be right behind you, and I'll neutralize the other."
Megan nodded.
Suddenly, Ed opened the door. Megan entered the hallway and yelled out, "Stay on the ground" to the hostages, as she shot the one suspect. Behind her Ed entered the shot the other.
Megan immediately lowered her firearm, and let the sling hold it to her vest, as she approached the young girl, probably about ten years of age.
"It's ok." Megan said softly, "You don't have to be afraid."
Megan removed her glove to touch the girl's skin, but found the skin to be cold.
She turned the girl over to her back, to find her lifeless, with a bullet hole in her chest.
She sunk down to the ground, beside the lifeless girl, as she started to cry.
"We're too late. They're dead."
Ed nodded, as he tried to get a read on the pulse of the older woman.
"Four suspects down, two civilians down- incident contained. Boss, let the EMTs in to cover up the bodies."
"You became emotional." Jenna said into the microphone, "You reacted."
"Am I not supposed to?" Megan asked, with red eyes, on the verge of beginning to cry, "Am I not supposed to feel sorrow for the lives of the people I couldn't save?"
"Is this job too much for you? Should you be transferred?"
"This job is all I have." Megan explained to the inspector, "This is the job my dad wanted me to have. I was a month into my first semester of Police Foundations, and I became an Officer In Training in the SRU. All I need is 7 more months of training, and I can challenge the entry exams and be a full-fledged SRU Officer. If I do that, I'll be the youngest SRU Officer in the history of the TPS SRU."
"According to your therapist's notes and records, you're prescribed with anti-depressants and sleeping pills, am I correct?"
"Yes."
"Do you think that your judgement was compromised today because of the medications that Dr. Laura Green has given you?"
"No…I don't know."
"You don't know?"
"I haven't been taking the anti-depressants."
"But according to the records, you've filled the prescription three times."
"I'm flushing them."
"Why?" Jenna asked, "Your therapist told you that they would help you."
"She also told me that if they prove effective, and that it affects my job, I'll be removed from service. This job- it's all I am."
"You're afraid that if you take them…" Jenna started
"…they'll prove effective and affect my job. Yeah." Megan finished.
"Well, Mrs. Perrasmith," Jenna said, "I can tell that your medications did not affect your job here today. You were effective in entering the building, assisting with the profiling of the suspects, and neutralizing the threat. I am under no legal authority to tell your therapist that you haven't been taking your medications."
Again, she leaned in and turned off the microphone.
"Your dad- I worked with him on the Brockville Police Force. I had lost my grandfather and I was taking it pretty hard. Your dad made sure I got the assistance I needed. Believe me- the anti-depressants will help."
A/N: Coming up on the last three- you guys excited- 'cause I am! Ok, so maybe I shouldn't be so excited to see things go, but I like I said before I think my fans- diehard (zombiegirl…) and regular will be extremely thrilled.