Major Crimes

Major Crimes - 04x07 - Targets of Opportunity

It's been 30 minutes.

Why are the bodies of L.A.P.D. officers

still lying in the street?

S.O.B. was required to secure the scene

and set up a safe zone before they could be removed.

A safe zone?

Chief Taylor, why do we need a safe zone?

You haven't been receiving my counter-terrorism reports,

which tell me law enforcement is extremely vulnerable

when it masses like this.

To ambush?

Ask yourself, captain...

In the past year, have police departments

become more or less popular?

Let's make sure tonight is as bad as things get.

Detail.

Atten-hut!

Our fallen officers... James Leary, age 42,

and Leigh Ann Tracy, only 23.

We're just now getting to the dead civilian in the Honda.

But it looks like he was shot with the same gun.

Do we know why Officers Leary and Tracy

might have stopped the Honda?

No, and their dash cam wasn't on.

- Light bar was off, too. - Got a copy of the last radio transmission.

Doesn't help very much.

7-Adam-33, be advised, the driver's license number

you inquired about does not exist.

Copy that. Thank you.

Okay, so your I.D.

And the name you gave us are fake, Mr. Prescott.

Big surprise.

So who are you?

You won't be able to hide behind Spanish where we're taking you.

Might as well drop it now.

Okay, have it your way.

Come on, Trace.

You have to know someplace romantic.

I told you, the restaurant on top of the hotel.

Think of somewhere you can afford to take someone.

Okay... budget romance.

McDonald's has take-out, Leary.

Okay, Mr. Prescott.

So, if these passport cards are as fake

as your driver's license, you are going to be

in Agua Caliente con americanos federales, comprende?

You want to help us or I.C.E.?

Hell's going on up there?

Weird way to pull someone over.

Yeah.

Maybe they need help.

Stay here with Mr. Prescott.

I'll be right back.

Put us code 6.

How you doing, officer?

I, uh, pulled this guy over...

Get down!

Officer Leary never drew his weapon,

but Officer Tracy had time

to return fire before she was wounded.

And, Captain, when they removed the body,

there were two bullet impacts and fragments on the sidewalk.

So she was executed.

But most of the shots fired this way

came from between here and the Honda, ma'am.

Officer Tracy's weapon wasn't with the body.

Where did it go?

Julio, you get the headlights, please.

No, no, no, no!

- What are you doing?! - Had no choice.

No, no, no, no!

Get in the car.

- Shit! - Let's go! Get in the car!

Damn it.

What are you trying to determine?

If I could tell the man in the Honda's dead from here,

but I can't

so our officers didn't stop for that.

- I need my witness. - What witness?

Tracy and Leary had an arrestee in the back of the car,

- the notional Mr. Prescott. - Ah.

Right, arrested for selling fake passport cards.

But this driver's license isn't so bad, either.

Where are the fake passport cards?

Launching facial recognition program now.

Okay, driver's wallet is gone, but we found

his license and registration on his lap.

As if he was pulled over by us?

Well, it's the first thing we usually ask for.

And there's blood spatter.

Peppars. Gordon Peppars.

No record... no wants or warrants.

But on the receiving end

of two bullets to the chest and one in the neck.

Haven't done a liver temp yet,

but I'm gonna say inside an hour and a half.

Based on what?

An ATM receipt I found in his pocket.

He withdrew $300 95 minutes ago.

- And the money? - Not on his person.

Buzz, track down the ATM Mr. Peppars used.

See if the security cameras caught his transaction.

- Yes, ma'am. - Captain, folks.

Okay, this is, uh, our patrol car...

that belonged to our two dead officers.

Here is our Honda.

And this is right over here.

S.I.D. says that we have a... an extremely fresh skid mark,

indicating a third vehicle.

Which must have left the scene.

So Officers Leary and Tracy notice what?

Was it an altercation between two drivers?

Was it someone robbing Mr. Peppars?

Why did they pull over?

Facial recognition strikes again,

at least on one passport card.

Paco Lopez.

He's got a record.

Oh, the record doesn't cover it.

Paco's high up in MS-13.

And they run El Salvador now.

For a gang that imports drugs and exports arms,

I.D.s like these are gold, ma'am.

I just got a hit from I.C.E. from a print found

on the fake Mr. Prescott's driver's license.

His real name is Enrico Fornes.

Salvadorian national, deported 17 months ago.

El Salvador... that's twice.

Same guy Tracy and Leary picked up.

Fornes... Diego Fornes is a big shot in MS-13.

If this kid Enrico is related to him,

that could be the reason why

our Officers Tracy and Leary were killed, ma'am.

All right, let's talk through this.

Our officers arrest this Enrico Fornes in the park.

Someone sees it. They call his gang.

The gang sets up, uh, this decoy, poor Mr. Peppars here.

Our officers pull over to help Mr. Peppars,

for which they are assassinated.

But...

If these murders are part of an escape plan,

why did our escapee Enrico

kick through the windows of our Explorer?

He is involved, yes.

But how?

Is he our suspect?

Or is he our only witness?

Either way, we've got to find him.

Our fellow police officers and first responders grieve

along with the families of our fallen

who gave their lives to protect and serve

the city of Los Angeles.

Could you turn that down? I can't hear.

We ask the public for their help to commu...

- What? - Exactly.

Listen to this message again.

Hey, yeah, Rusty?

My name's Gustavo Wallace, and I want you

to tell your friend Alice that I love her,

and I love Paloma, too,

and that I know I made mistakes and I want to fix them.

Tell her I'm sorry about Vegas,

but I need to know where everybody is.

Call me back immediately at 667-555-0127.

I need to hear from you, please.

So, all the reverse-number lookup gets me

is the phone store where this guy bought his prepaid cell.

What if this Gustavo guy is like a human trafficker?

What if that apology he made

is for all those burn marks on Alice's back?

What if he shows up with a gun?

I'll meet him in a public place.

Look...

We've only been friends for, like, a month.

But if there's one thing that's totally obvious about you,

it's that you're... you're overconfident.

You need to know more about this Gustavo

before meeting up with him.

Seriously.

What if there was a way we could get

a police background report on him?

How? You said you couldn't involve your mom.

And it looks like she's crazy busy right now.

I won't say all roads lead to MS-13 extracting

Enrico Fornes from our patrol car,

but it does look possible.

What makes this Enrico kid so valuable

MS-13 would kill two cops to get him back?

Before I.C.E. deported him last year,

Enrico lived in the United States

from the time he was three years old

through his sophomore year at Arizona State.

He knows America like an American, sir,

which makes him useful to his uncle, Diego Fornes,

who runs the Southern half of El Salvador, sir.

In short, chief, whether this young man

was directly or indirectly involved,

he is a valuable witness and could probably give us

insights into the most dangerous gang in our hemisphere.