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The Fallen
The Fallen
Season 14
Number 19
Writer Anthony E. Zuiker,
Deanna Shumaker
Director Louis Milito
Original Airdate April 2, 2014
Navigation
Previous Episode: Uninvited
Next Episode: Consumed

The Fallen is the nineteenth episode in Season Fourteen of CSI: Crime Scene Investigation.

Synopsis []

Russell is taken hostage after a teenager opens fire in a police station.

Plot[]

Victims: multiple officers (deceased/wounded), D.B. Russell (held hostage), Jacob Baker (wounded/held hostage)

On the case: Greg Sanders, Julie Finlay, Morgan Brody, Nick Stokes, Sara Sidle, Jim Brass

Russell is tasked with interrogating Jacob Baker, who's being accused of felony auto theft. As Russell goes into the interrogation room, another male teenager enters the LVPD reception area. He suddenly pulls out a gun, shoots the cop at the front desk, and takes a hostage. As he makes his way through the station, he shoots several more officers, emptying his gun in the process and drawing another one. The rampage ends when the teen reaches the interrogation room and points his gun at Russell.

A news report fills everyone in on the hostage situation, and the team is shocked upon learning that Russell is in the interrogation room with the shooter. Nick and Greg offer to go to the police department to see what happened, while Sara offers to go the hospital. Finn will run things from the lab.

In the interrogation room, the shooter becomes increasingly agitated as Russell's cell phone continues to ring. Jacob was shot in the rampage, and he's beginning to bleed out. Meanwhile, the shooter was also shot upon entering the room, suffering from what Russell believes to be a cracked rib. Russell tells the shooter that someone needs to answer the phone; otherwise, the assumption will be that Russell is dead, which will lead to the cops firing everything they've got.

As Jacob's condition starts to worsen, Russell convinces the shooter to let him tend to the boy. Russell is able to stop the bleeding using a piece of Jacob's shirt. The shooter won't give his name, but is able to figure out that Russell isn't law enforcement based on the way he's dressed.

An officer is able to get a video feed of the interrogation room; however, it has no sound. Soon, Brass is surprised when his phone rings and he sees that it's a call from Russell. Russell puts the phone on speaker and gives an update on everything going on. The shooter still refuses to give his name, but has agreed to allow food, water, and medical supplies into the room. In addition, he asks for one thing: a laptop.

In autopsy, Doc Robbins pulls a 9mm bullet out of Officer Matsuda, which is consistent with the gun found at the scene. Meanwhile, at the hospital, Sara comforts Lt. Debra Hughes, whose husband was shot in the rampage. Officer Blake Hughes was the cop at the reception desk, and he was put on desk duty by his wife. He's alive and has been brought into surgery.

An officer informs Brass that he's put a microphone in an epinephrine injector. The plan is to give it to Russell with the other medical supplies, but someone needs to let him know that it's there. Greg offers his services and delivers the medical supplies and the laptop under the guise of being an LVPD officer. During the transfer in the hallway, Greg subtly mentions the epinephrine injector.

The bullets recovered from Officer Matsuda don't tell much, but the gun is another story. Morgan finds that the gun has changed hands several times, with the last owner being a Holland Walker, who has an Arizona address. So, how does a gun make its way from Arizona to Vegas and end up in the hands of a cop killer? Finn advises Morgan to call Holland and find out.

As Russell tends to Jacob's injury, the shooter accesses the laptop and scrolls through news articles. When the shooter focuses on the epinephrine injector, Russell diverts his attention and asks for help in tending to Jacob. Russell is able to get the shooter to hand over a water bottle. He then pretends to encounter a problem, handing the bloody bottle back to the shooter temporarily. Upon returning the bottle to back Russell, the shooter leaves his bloody fingerprint on it. Russell points the print towards the camera and motions towards it. Nick picks up on this action, and they're able to magnify the screen grab and capture the print. During the interaction, Russell sees the shooter clinging to his St. Christopher medal. Despite this being a suicide mission, the teen isn't dead yet. Russell questions whether there's someone on the outside that's worried about the teen and doesn't want to see him get hurt—maybe the same person who gave him the medal.

Hodges runs the print and identifies the shooter as 16-year-old Mark Powell. The young man's juvenile records are sealed, but it's found his address is listed on the record. Mark's mother, Cynthia, is brought to the police station to try to calm her son down. She told Brass that she doesn't own a gun and doesn't know how Mark could get access to one. The family van was also found a block from the police station; Greg will have it brought in and start processing it.

Cynthia is led into Brass' office and gets upset when she sees her son on the live camera feed. Brass coaches her to reach out to Mark and get him to give himself up; doing so could help protect his future. Upon receiving a call from Brass, Russell puts the phone on speaker. Mark grows upset when he finds out that his mother has been located and brought to the police station. As his mother talks to him, Mark looks around and spots the bloody fingerprint on the bottle. When he finds the security camera in the room, he connects the dots. He grows irate at the fact that Russell played him, and he points his gun at the CSI.

Mark whirls around and shoots out the security camera, which puts everyone outside the room on guard. Russell tells the agitated teen that the police are going to come busting into the room very soon, which will result in everyone being shot and killed. Mark allows Russell to call Brass and relay that everyone is alright and that everything is under control.

Outside, Officer Robert Dolan, who's in charge of the task force, states that Mark is a ticking time bomb. His plan is to use thermal imaging to get a heat signature on anybody in the room; however, there's no way to tell which body is which. Officer Dolan wants Mark to pay for what he did to his fellow officers, but Nick and Brass convince him to stand down and give Russell a chance to talk with Mark. Nick adds that the CSIs need to be given a chance to process the evidence in an effort to get to know Mark better and get everyone out alive.

Finn and Greg process the family fan, discovering that Mark has been living in it for the last few weeks. Among the van's contents are the usual signs of teen angst and depression, including violent journal entries and books about guns. Blueprints to the LVPD are also present, indicating that Mark has been planning this for a while.

Morgan goes through Mark's computer and finds hundreds of emails and messages between the boy and someone with the username "LookingGlass419." Several of the exchanges include the mystery user stating his hate for cops and formulating a plan to attack police stations. The two have staged some sort of suicide pact, and the CSIs know that Mark couldn't plan all of this on his own. They theorize that Mark needs an alpha, someone to give him a sense of purpose and meaning in his life. The last email exchange between the two occurred ten days ago when LookingGlass mentioned that he selected the targets and procured guns and burner phones. Now the question is which police station LookingGlass will hit and when.

Nick sits down with Cynthia, telling her that her son had help in planning the attack. She doesn't recognize the username in the emails and messages, and she tells Nick that Mark has only had one friend. The boy, a neighbor named Elliot, got into drugs and eventually robbed a liquor store. When the police cornered him, they shot him because they were under the impression he had a gun. Elliot was killed, after which Mark became inconsolable—and triggered his hatred for cops. Nick mentions Mark's juvie record, which includes vandalism and assault. He admonishes Cynthia for knowing about her son's past crimes and not doing anything about it. She replies that she tried everything, including enrolling Mark in therapy and after-school programs. The two even started going to church together and praying to St. Christopher, which is when she gave him the medal.

In the hospital, Lt. Debra Hughes is told that her husband died during surgery. When consoled by Sara, Debra says that she can't stop replaying the night's events in her head. One officer's kid got sick, which eventually led to her putting Blake on desk duty. The dominoes fell a certain way, and if they hadn't, Blake would still be alive.

Back in the interrogation room, Mark browses his laptop and searches for "Las Vegas Police Shootings." When the search comes back with no results, he nervously stuffs his St. Christopher medal into his mouth. There are also no messages on Mark's phone, and Russell guesses that there's someone else out there who's going to execute a similar attack. Russell mentions that he sees a change in Mark, as if he suddenly has a will to survive.

Meanwhile, Jacob's condition starts to worsen, and Russell guesses that the bullet nicked one of his lungs, causing it to start filling with blood. Mark doesn't want to let anyone go, but Russell tells him that Jacob isn't a cop. The injured teen needs a doctor, and Russell convinces Mark to let Jacob go. EMTs arrive and take Jacob away. As he's wheeled out of the room, Jacob thanks Russell for his help and wishes that both he and Mark make it out of there alive.

Finn calls Nick with some startling information: whoever Mark has been communicating with is someone inside the police department. The server's IP confirms that at least half of the emails between the duo were sent from inside. Nick and Brass assess the situation, with Nick concluding that there was never a suicide pact, nor was there never another target; the LVPD has been the sole target the entire time. Whoever the cop is had knowledge that Mark hated cops and was a ticking time bomb.

As Mark continues to come up empty in his search for news articles about other shootings, Russell guesses that whatever the boy was waiting for isn't going to happen. Mark, realizing what's really happening, starts to panic; he shot at a bunch of cops and now has no way out. Russell tries to convince Mark that if they walk out of the room together, he could still have a life, albeit with some consequences for his actions. Mark, however, sees no alternative and points the gun at his head. He can't bring himself to pull the trigger, but he gives Russell another gun and threatens to shoot him if Russell doesn't pull his trigger first. Russell denies the request, and Mark collapses in his arms and starts to sob, realizing the horror he's caused.

Greg traces the computers in the department, eventually finding that the emails were sent by Officer Robert Dolan. At the same time, the officer is leading his task force towards the interrogation room. Russell and Mark emerge, with Russell stepping aside to get out of the line of fire. Mark follows Brass' instructions, but soon starts reaching for something under his coat. This causes the officers to open fire, shooting Mark dozens of times. When the firing has ceased, Russell runs over to the body and discovers that Mark was reaching for his St. Christopher medal.

Brass receives the information about Officer Dolan's computer being used to send the emails, and he arrests him on the spot. In the hospital, Sara tells Lt. Hughes that they caught the shooter and tracked down the computer that was being used to communicate with him from inside the department. Lt. Hughes had earlier told Sara about her marital problems, and Sara surmises that Officer Dolan was the third person in the love triangle. The officer couldn't handle it after Lt. Hughes went back to her husband, Blake.

However, Sara reveals that while the emails came from Officer Dolan's computer, he was off-duty at the time they were sent. The person who had a connection to Mark was Lt. Hughes herself, as the two met at a Police Youth Sports Camp the year before; there's even a photo to prove it. She's the one who created the username LookingGlass419, and a search of her locker turned up the burner phone she used to text Mark. The night's events were set in motion by the lieutenant, as she purposely moved her husband behind the reception desk and gave Mark the go ahead to walk in and open fire two minutes later.

Sara tells Lt. Hughes that she betrayed her badge without a care about the other people she hurt or got killed. When asked why she would do this, Lt. Hughes replies that there's really no answer that will make anybody understand. The lieutenant is arrested as Sara walks away disgusted.

Russell walks into autopsy as Cynthia Powell looks over her son's body. She knows that the media will make her son out to be some sort of monster, but she insists that the opposite was true. Russell says that Mark was a young man who was confused and in a lot of pain, adding that only God can judge and forgive him.

Cast[]

Main Cast[]

Guest Cast[]

  • Larry M. Mitchell as Officer Mitchell
  • Paula Francis as Herself
  • Brendan Meyer as Mark Powell
  • Billy Miller as Officer Robert Dolan
  • Scottie Thompson as Lt. Debra Hughes
  • Matt Shively as Jacob Baker
  • Stephanie Michels as Cynthia Powell
  • Jeff Pierre as Officer Dunn
  • Mike Faiola as Officer Blake Hughes
  • Ali Chen as Female Civilian
  • Kelly Bacon as Nurse (uncredited)
  • Nick Bemrose as Orderly (uncredited)
  • Beth Bryson as Nurse (uncredited)
  • Brett Edwards as SWAT Officer (uncredited)
  • Stephen Oyoung as Officer Matsuda (uncredited)
  • Alexander Harris as SWAT Officer (uncredited)
  • Aidan Nagle as SWAT Officer (uncredited)
  • Lisa Dawn Tynes as Civilian (uncredited)

Notes[]

  • Jon Wellner (Henry) is credited but does not appear in the episode.
  • It's stated that Jacob Baker was previously caught pointing lasers at airplanes. This occurred in the episode Keep Calm and Carry On.

Trivia[]

  • At the end of the episode, the LVPD Fallen Officer Memorial Wall is shown. We can see the memories of Cyrus Lockwood, who was killed in Inside the Box, and Ray O'Riley, who last appeared in Homebodies (and apparently died some time after that). 

See Also[]

CSI:Las Vegas Season 14
The Devil and D.B. RussellTake the Money and RunTorch SongLast SupperFrame by FramePassed PawnsUnder a CloudHelplessCheck In and Check OutGirls Gone WildLost ReindeerKeep Calm and Carry OnBoston BrakesDe Los MuertosLove for SaleKiller MovesLong Road HomeUninvitedThe FallenConsumedKittyDead In His Tracks
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