Log:The 1700 Block Shootout

Here Comes the Judge 2020/10/20 Night Marshal|Carpenter Det. Celia Harris 7

It's midday and lunch break is almost over. Detective Harris suggested a philly cheesesteak place, and she's just finishing the last of her sandwich. Grabbing a napkin, she dabs at her mouth. Whatever nude-colored lipstick she's wearing doesn't budge. And also doesn't need touch ups. She crumples her napkin and drops it in the sandwich wrapper. "I haven't had one of those in ages. Ready to see if our perp is home?" There's an alleged drug dealer in the nearby Artist Quarter who has a loft in the section that hasn't yet been gentrified. Their source suggested he'd be there in the early afternoon. Which means they're still early.

Carpenter finishes up his sandwich, and he nods, "Yeah, we can go ahead and take a look. Might be a little early still, but perhaps he's back."

Harris shrugs and grins. "It'll still take us some time to get there. Honestly, I'm just glad for something normal." Although the dealer supposedly deals the superpower-granting drug XS along with other assorted drugs.

Carpenter quirks a smile. "Normal tends to be...abnormal in this town."

"Great. You already jinxed it." Harris leans forward and points at Carpenter direly, "Talking like that is what gets us jinxed."

Carpenter chuckles. "I'm pretty sure that's not what does it." He smiles. "I'm just prepared for things to get odd if they do."

Celia gives Carpenter a suspicious squint in response to that smile of us. "I'm not entirely convinced. If that's not what does it, then what is?" she quips back as she loads her trash into her tray to get ready to leave.

Carpenter picks up his trash as well. "Oh...just my existence. That's what does it." He grins and goes ahead to dump the trash and set the tray on top of the disposal area.

Harris makes a vague displeased noise as she waits after him to dump her trash and stack her tray atop his. "So there's no escaping it," she resigns herself with a smirk as they head out.

Carpenter chuckles. "I'm afraid probably not." He follows her outside.

Harris laughs at that as she steps up along the passenger side of the car. "So tell me, who -did- you piss off in a past life to get so uniquely blessed?"

Carpenter chuckles. "I wish I knew." He climbs into the car as well...and drives them over toward the location.

That gets a laugh and a shake of Celia's head as she buckles up.

The ride goes quietly. Harris checks over her case notes. She still uses an old fashioned flip pad sometimes. The police radio interrupts the silence. It's the usual chatter. Then, "We've got a 10-71 on the 1700 block of 5th and Jefferson." Shots fired. That's also the block they're headed to for their lead on the dealer.

Carpenter furrows his brow, "Let'em know we're responding." They're already close to the location in question, but he pulls out the flashing light. There's no full blaring siren, so he can't drive all out, but he can at least pick up the pace a bit.

Harris nods and radios in to dispatch that they're responding. Another unit is on their way for backup.

Everything seems to go their way. The lights are in their favor...and the traffic actually is thin enough for him to weave cleanly between the cars. And several of them manage to get out of the way when they see the flashing light.

The 1700 block is former commercial real estate turned artist lofts. There's graffiti everywhere, but it's all artistic. Murals on top of murals on top of political art statements. The place is on the way to being gentrified, as in between rundown former commercial buildings, there's the occasional trendy hipster place. The sidewalks are still dirty though, and there's empty weed-overgrown lots. The building they end up at is a five story brick building. "Yeah...this was where we were headed," Harris confirms grudgingly. There's a metal door with a callbox out front, but not many windows on the ground floor. Above, each floor has plenty of windows, though.

Carpenter pulls up...and gets out of the car, "There weren't any other details, were there?" He looks around for any indication where the shots might have been coming from.

Celia shakes her head. "Just shots fired reported from someone in this building," she says as she looks up and around. There's no shots now.

Carpenter nods, "Normally, it'd be good to wait for more backup, but...well, we're each other's backup, right?" He locks the car remotely, and draws his weapon as he heads over toward the front door of the building.

Harris looks to Carpenter. "I had a feeling you were going to say that," she smiles faintly and draws her sidearm. "I've got your back, partner." She keeps the safety on and the gun held with both hands, muzzle down for now.

Carpenter nods. "If it's a meta, we likely need to wait for more backup, but given that it's gunshots...probably not?" He gets to the front door, and sees if it's open.

"Not many metas use guns," Celia agrees. "And if it was one, a backup unit won't be enough." The door to the building is locked, with a callbox next to it.

Carpenter goes ahead to use the police access on the callbox, and then opens the door, heading in with his badge on his pocket, nice and obvious. He keeps his pistol pointed down for the moment.

Celia has her badge clipped on her belt and checks the lobby as they go in. It's quiet in the lobby currently. It's also not really decorated. The floors and walls are concrete, a little stained with age, but polished smooth. There's an old fashioned service elevator on the right with a cage and gate you have to slide up to get in, then down to secure. In the rear, there's a door straight ahead, and another door on the right near the rear with a stairs sign on it. Florescent lights keep the lobby reasonable well lit. "So how do we do this? We don't know what floor. But our lead was on four. Want to bet that's the place to check first?"

From the emergency stairwell door several meters from the elevator, Carpenter hears footsteps. Hurried ones.

Celia is trying to hide it, but she looks a bit nervous. She's still a rookie and hasn't developed Carpenter's steel nerves.

Carpenter gives her a smile, "Remember your training. Keep cover. It'll save your life." He points toward the emergency stairwell. "I heard someone running...down the stairs, I think?"

Carpenter heads to cover the door to the stairwell. "I suggest heading up the stair anyway."

The elevator is stopped on the 7th floor from the lights above the cage.

Celia looks to Carpenter and nods. His smile gets her to smile back. The smile still doesn't quite reach her eyes. "We should check it out. Could be our perp trying to slip out," she says quietly.

Carpenter nods, "I'll go first." He opens the door to the stairwell carefully, now with his pistol raised.

Celia raises her gun, but now muzzle up and gun held closer to her to prepare to cover.

The door doesn't make a sound as Carpenter opens it. The footsteps are just a floor or so up from the sound of it. The shoes sound hard-souled. Definitely not sneakers. The pace is steady and brisk.

Celia is still behind Carpenter, watching his back.

At the top of the stairwell switchback, Carpenter spies a pair of cowboy boots, the swish of an old brown duster, and then the rest of the rest of the Judge with his pistol drawn. The Judge hasn't seen them yet.

Carpenter shakes his head slowly, and waves to Celia to back up. He mouths the word 'Judge' without saing it aloud, and he points upward. He can't open fire without announcing himself. Or shouldn't. Sadly. He already knows that Judge won't just...give up.

Celia nods, wide-eyed. She quickly backs up quickly and quietly, expecting that's the signal that they need to withdraw and wait for backup.

Carpenter decides to be prudent. He's not armored right now. And his weapon doesn't have the punch that his other pistol does. He's pretty sure that Judge is wearing enough kevlar to just be annoyed by their standard ammo. He tries to quietly close the door again and backs away. He quietly says to Celia, "Judge is on the stairs. He outguns us badly. We need backup."

Celia nods quickly. "Alright. We better withdraw quick before comes through that door," she says.

Carpenter nods. He has a moment of wanting to actually get into hand to hand combat with Judge. "Go. I'll cover us on the way out." He backs slowly away from the door in question, keeping his gun trained on it as he retreats.

Celia nods and backpedals swiftly. She gets to the door they came in through and steps out, holding the door open for Jack once she's clear off to the side of it.

The stairwell door begins to open.

Carpenter isn't quite to the door yet. He shouts, "CBPD! Freeze!"

Carpenter doesn't hesitate. He wants just enough time to be able to make sure they're both in cover, so he make sure that Celia and he are out of the main line of fire if there's lead coming their way.

The Judge hesitates, and then there's the click of a revolver hammer. Celia has cover being outside, though hearing Carpenter's warning has her alert. There's room on the other side of the door from her for Carpenter to get some cover. That southern drawl whiskey voice calls out, "Y'all may wanna skip this fight, boys."

Carpenter calls out, "We got a report of shots fired, Judge. Who did you kill? What do you think they did?"

"Ah just did yer jobs for ya. If y'all wanna go home after yer shift, Ah recommend vamoosing," The Judge warns, not yet emerging from the doorframe.

Carpenter also wants to keep him delayed. After all, backup is on the way. "Killed someone innocent? Who was it? How do you know you got someone who deserved it?"

There's a grumbly exhale at Carpenter's questions. "Unlike y'all, Ah always get my man. It's a shame ya ta do this, but!" The Judge makes his move and steps out the doorway, strafing to the emergency exit door with his revolver aimed towards the front door where Carpenter and Celia are. "Last chance!"

Carpenter regrets the paperwork that is about to be necessary, but he opens fire on Judge.

The report of the gun echoes in the lobby. It hits square in the left side of his chest. Aside from making him grunt slightly and his upper body twist from the impact, it doesn't do much.

"Wrong choice," the Judge's gravely voice says as he fires back at Carpenter.

Cover really does save lives. The shot at Carpenter pings off the doorframe near his head.

Carpenter flinches as the shot frame. "Damn cape killer ammo."

Celia backs up her partner and opens fire on the Judge.

The shot hits the wall over the Judge's shoulder.

Carpenter doesn't have much of a prayer of seriously hurting Judge. But maybe he can put that gun out of commission. He fires again, but this time, aiming for the pistol in Judge's hand.

The shot sparks off of the Judge's revolver, causing his arm to fling back from the impact. He just barely hangs on to his gun from that amazing shot.

"Nice shootin'." The Judge may have a new found respect for Carpenter, as he spares shooting him down and instead backs up into the crash bar of the exit. The door opens out into the rear alley of the building and begins to slowly close as he takes off.

Celia is wowed by the shot. Perhaps encouraged by Carpenter's bravado, she runs in and flattens against the side of the rear exit door, maintaining full cover for now.

Carpenter hurries over to where Celia is. "We need to probably let him go. I tried to disarm him, but I dont' think what we're packing has enough punch. As soon as we open that door, he's going to open fire. Stay under cover completely." He kicks the crash bar, opening the door, but remaining out of sight..and expecting a hail of lead.

Celia nods and stays under cover, though she looks shocked as Carpenter -looks- like he's about to charge throw like some cowboy. As the crash bar kicks open, sure enough, a shot rings out and puts a hole through the door, right about head-level.

Carpenter pokes his head out, using the wall for cover to see if he has a clear (and safe) shot at Judge.

The Judge is back pedaling in the back alley. Behind the Judge some distance is a street with cars passing by. He's edging towards another alley to try and get out of the line of fire, but he's not there yet. There's an opportunity to shoot him where it'll hit the back of the buildings opposite Carpenter.

Carpenter goes ahead and takes the shot, as long as there's no dangers to passersby.

It's a solid shot, but it hits where the kevlar is thickest. The Judge hardly seems effected, or to notice.

The Judge is the vengeful sort. He moves to cover around the corner of a building and fires back at Carpenter. "Ya'd think ya'd be grateful for taking out the trash for ya! Maybe yer soft of criminals, like the rest o' them!" he says as he takes his shot.

Carpenter calls back, "If I was soft on criminals, I wouldn't be trying to capture the murderer talking to me!"

Carpenter shakes his head and says to Celia quietly, "We're likely to have to let him go. Or follow really, really carefully."

Another close shot, but Carpenter's cool under fire and manages to avoid it. The Judge's eyes squint at the use of the term murderer. "What Ah'm doing is justice. And Ah'm not about to let anyone git in my way."

Celia is still under cover. "Follow that guy? I don't know if we can get past his armor unless we aim for his head," she says. She exposes herself just enough around the corner to fire back. It's more cover fire than a hope of stopping the guy.

That's an extremely lucky shot. It gets the Judge alongside his head where there's no armor. There's a small spray of blood and he clutches the side of his face, cursing in pain and utter surprise. Celia's even more surprised.

Carpenter blinks. "Wow. Nice shot."

Carpenter goes ahead and fires another round, given that Judge is still remaining where he is and hasn't fled.

The shot hits the brick behind the Judge. The Judge curses. "You just made my list, Girly. Ya both did." Clutching his wounded face as blood spreads across his bandana, he turns and runs.

Carpenter moves down the alley, and says quietly to Celia, "We'll need to gather evidence here. We can get his DNA."

"Then maybe we got him," Celia whispers back as Jack takes lead.

The Judge is high tailing it, now running at a full sprint towards a more empty street in this former commercial neighborhood, taking another corner.

Celia runs up after Carpenter, but she hasn't the training or speed he does. She doesn't yet make it to the corner.

Carpenter growls to himself...and takes two steps further down the alley...and then stops himself. "We should call it off. He's going to get into populated areas. And we have a lead."

Celia catches up, breathing quickly from the adrenaline. She keeps her gun at the ready for a bit and then finally clicks the safety on her gun and lets out a sigh of relief. "Right. We can probably pull DNA off of where I hit him." She catches her breath and slowly holsters her sidewarm, looking at Jack. "You're damn fast. Were you really about to chase him down?"

Carpenter chuckles. "I thought about it. I...can be a bit stubborn. It's a flaw." He takes several deep breaths and also clicks his safety. "If you get the sample, I'll write the report on this one. I feel like it should fall to me."

Celia nods, happy to take that deal. "I'll go back to the car and get the evidence kit. Keys?" she asks, holding out her hand.

Carpenter tosses the keys to her. "I'll stay here in case he doubles back."

Celia catches the keys and nods. "Watch your back, partner," she smiles faintly, then heads quickly back the way they came to go to the car. She disappears inside the lofts building, giving Carpenter a few moments to himself.

Carpenter checks the alley for cameras. Maybe they can get some facial recognition from the alley or the building itself.

There is one camera, but there's no telling if it's operational given this neighborhood. It's a little longer than it should take, but Celia returns. "Look who I found?" she comments as their backup comes after her, two cops. "We have an APB out for the Judge. There're two more taping off the front right now." She puts on her gloves and takes out an evidence bag and swab.

Carpenter finally holsters his pistol. "Thanks." He waves to the officers. "Haven't found the victim yet. Someone upstairs. I have a suspicion who it might be. We ran into Judge as he was leaving. He admitted to murder on the way out, but didn't spill the name."

The cops nod. "We'll check the building." They head back to get things in order, and find and protect the scene. As they head back in, another cop comes out and helps tape off the evidence area in the alley at their direction.

Celia crouches as she finds some blood splatter and takes a swap, then puts it in a capsule and drops it in her evidence bag. "Definitely got his DNA. And his admission. It's just a matter of time," she looks up at Jack. "Think you should call in some friends to help?

Carpenter nods to Celia, "I'm assuming you're talking metas? If we can figure out who he is? Heck yes. Either that or we're going to need much bigger guns than what you and I are carrying. But...having metas help you on a case can...sometimes be somewhat like herding cats. It depends on the meta. Some are better than others. Some are...great on a case. Otherwise are a disaster."

Carpenter points out the security camera to the uniformed cop that came out to tape the area off. "See if you can get footage from that camera. I want to see if we can get facial recognition to match the DNA."

"Think we can get some heavier fire arms approved?" Celia asks curiously as she stands back up. She thinks on his words and remembers the liason meeting. "Maybe...just keep them on speed dial for now," she agrees.

"Yes, Sir," the cop says and gets to work, heading around to find entrance to the building with the camera to look into it.

Carpenter nods to Celia. "If we go into his home, he'll be loaded for bear. If we don't have metas with us, we'll want armor and bigger guns. And SWAT backing us up."

Carpenter smiles. "First thing first, though...we need to get a DNA match. Hopefully our perp is in the database someplace. Someone this violent probably already is. At least I hope so."

"Let's hope we get a break," Celia agrees. She's about to make another comment when another cop leans out the door to the lofts.

"Detectives, we got a body. 4th floor," he informs them.

Carpenter nods to the cop and says to Celia, "Alright, let's go check it out."