Luke casually said, "I'll leave this task to you."

The direction of this investigation is not wrong, and if luck is on our side, we might indeed find the shooter's whereabouts.

However, the investigation process will have some difficulties. First, the shooter entered the supermarket fully armed, wrapped tightly from head to toe, and no one knows his true appearance.

Second, the shooter deliberately broke the cameras, preventing the police from using surveillance to track him down.

Third, there was panic around the supermarket at the time, and the customers were all fleeing in chaos. In such a crisis, many people's memories are confused.

In summary, it might take some time to track down this shooter.

Luke also examined the shooter's equipment. The shooter was wearing gloves and left no fingerprints, and there were no special marks on the equipment. He could only hand this equipment over to the tech team for processing, hoping for new discoveries.

Luke continued to investigate inside the supermarket. The supermarket is divided into two floors, covering about over 2,000 square meters. Plus, with many goods and a messy crime scene, investigating the scene was also a huge task.

The bodies of several victims who died on site were still there. So many deaths at once made even the forensic doctor busy, and Luke walked to each body to check—some were men, some were women, some were elderly, and some were young. They all had one common feature: they were Black.

Based on the existing evidence and clues, the motive and method of the crime are not difficult to guess.

The perpetrator is likely a white supremacist who hated Black people so intensely that he decided to massacre at a supermarket in a Black community.

Luke speculated that this killer shouldn't be too old, based on two points of judgment. First, the killer's voice had a hint of naivety, sounding like a young man's voice.

The second point is that the shooter chose to livestream the killing, which is more like a young person's modus operandi.

After the massacre in the supermarket, the shooter discarded his gear and disguised himself as a regular customer before escaping.

Thinking of this, Luke's expression slightly changed. The shooter wasn't found in the supermarket, but his discarded clothing was. Everyone assumed the shooter had escaped; could the culprit be using diversionary tactics, leaving his clothing in the supermarket to make people think he had run?

But in reality, he didn't escape and is hiding somewhere in the supermarket. The supermarket is not small, and hiding a person isn't impossible.

However, this is just a mere guess, with no evidence, and Luke was not very confident.

But as the person in charge of the case, he must consider all possibilities. Guessing wrong isn't a big deal, but if he guesses right and does nothing, that's a big problem.

Luke snapped his fingers and instructed the sidekick, "Marcus, take a few people and search the supermarket carefully, see if there are any other survivors or suspicious individuals." He deliberately emphasized his tone.

The sidekick got the hint, "Do you think the shooter hasn't left?"

"I just want to make sure the place is safe."

"OK, as you wish."

Luke called out to the sidekick again, "Make sure to be careful."

Marcus laughed, "Don't worry, I'd love to run into that kid and take him out with one shot."

"Bang bang." Sounds came from the ceiling.

The sidekick immediately pulled out a gun, looking toward the ceiling.

"Thud." Another sound, but much lighter this time.

Luke kept his eyes on the ceiling, roughly locating the source of the sound through the two noises and gesturing to the sidekick, then pointing to the ventilation duct on the ceiling.

At the top of the supermarket is a silver metal ventilation duct, with one end outside the supermarket and the other inside, not far away from the fruit shelf. Climbing the fruit shelf can lead into the ventilation duct.

Luke and the sidekick carefully approached to inspect. There's a metal grate on the duct opening that can be removed, but near the exit is U-shaped, making it impossible to see inside the duct. The inside of the duct is narrow, and climbing in rashly might be dangerous.

The sidekick shouted, "LAPD, we know you're in the ventilation duct. The supermarket is surrounded by police inside and out. You can't escape. Come out and surrender immediately, or we'll start shooting."

The ventilation duct is long, and the sidekick couldn't determine where exactly the person was hiding, so he could only shout to force a surrender.

However, there was no response, and the effect was minimal.

Luke took a smoke grenade from the side of his bulletproof vest, "Hey, I know you're in the ventilation duct. If you don't come out, I'll throw a smoke grenade inside." Luke looked at the sidekick and said, "Go find a cardboard box to block the duct entrance."

The sidekick looked at the smoke grenade in Luke's hand, astonished. How could he be this sly? But I like it!

The sidekick hurried off to find a cardboard box.

After a while, a voice came from the ventilation duct, "NONONO, please don't shoot. I have no weapon, and I'm not the shooter. I'm a good person."

A young voice came from inside the duct.

"Then crawl out quickly." Luke didn't lower his guard, still aiming his gun at the duct.

Other team members also came over, forming a semicircle around the duct entrance.

"Bang bang..." There were more noises from the ceiling, suggesting someone was climbing inside the duct.

After a while, someone slid down through the duct.

"LAPD!"

"Hands up, don't move!"

The surrounding officers held their guns up and remained alert.

A boy around ten years old raised his hands, tears running down his cheeks, eyes filled with fear and anxiety, "I have no weapon, please don't hurt me! Don't shoot! Don't shoot!"

Luke had seen a photo of this boy and asked, "What's your name?"

"Antoine Powell."

"What's your mother's name?"

"Sasha Powell."

"Why were you in the classroom?"

"I came to buy some olive oil."

Everything matched. Luke quietly reassured him, "No need to worry, the shooter is no longer in the supermarket. We're the police, here to save you."

Antoine Powell nodded quickly, tears in his voice, "I want to find my mom..."

"Of course you can." Luke called over the sidekick, whispered, "Search him, then take him to see his mother. You're in charge of the record-taking."

The sidekick glanced at Antoine Powell, "Got it."