Hi all, I am finally writing the climax of my story, a crime drama set in L.A. in 1992. I am having a tough time figuring out police procedure in the aftermath of a shootout involving the MC, his girlfriend, and the bad guy (whereby the MC and girlfriend partner up against the bad guy).
Background:
The bad guy is lurking in the MC's apartment as part of his plan to rip off the MC by kidnapping him and compelling him to transfer 2 million dollars overseas. The MC has a legally-owned gun and a CC permit both of which the bad guy knows about. The bad guy does NOT know that MC also has a 9 mm Glock on him which he took off a street punk a few weeks before and has been meaning to turn into the cops since it's clearly hot, with a scratched-off serial number (in fact, the MC was going to turn it in that day which explains why he is carrying it).
Action:
The MC enters the apartment and the bad guy relieves him of his gun. The girlfriend enters with a gun of her own, which she does not legally possess (it belonged to her deceased mother and was put in a storage facility after the mom died). Furthermore, the girlfriend is out on bail.
Girlfriend shoots bad guy. Bad guy shoots MC. MC pulls out Glock and shoots bad guy, grazing him. Bad guy shoots girlfriend. Girlfriend shoots bad guy again, also grazing him. Bad guy flees the scene then dies falling down the stairs.
So, the cops come and find the MC and his girlfriend and take them to the hospital; they both survive. The cops also seize the illegal guns. The girlfriend tells the police (MC is unconscious) that the bad guy brought the Glock and the MC got it away from him and used it to shoot the bad guy. She also tells the cops the bad guy apparently broke into the storage facility and took her mother's gun; she found it outside the building before entering the apartment, then picked it up wondering what the hell was going on, etc. Her angle is the bad guy stole it from her and so she used it to shoot him in self-defense since she just happened to find it where he dropped it by mistake. She had the foresight to file a police report several days beforehand stating the storage facility was robbed (I describe how she suspects the bad guy might be around and up to something so she concludes this may cover her if she has to use her gun), but she does not list the gun on that police report since she claims to have had no notion that it was even there.
Questions:
How thorough will the police be in investigating this shootout? Do they account for every bullet from every gun, including the shots that went wild? Perhaps I can just have the girlfriend make her gun disappear, though I suspect that would be a stretch.
How likely is it the cops will believe the girlfriend and assume the bad guy brought the Glock/stole her gun and dropped it by mistake outside? Bad guy is dead, so nobody can contradict her claims.
How likely is it the MC and his girlfriend don't get charged with having an unlawful firearm? I need her to skate off on this one since the sequel depends on her having a clean criminal record so she can join a federal law enforcement agency (I realize her claims about the illegal guns are shady, but she is acting to protect her boyfriend - part of the theme of my story involves people committing questionable acts for a greater good and how that weighs in on the moral scale). She knows she is tied to that gun since the registration records will show it was her mother's. Since she didn't actually pack up all her mother's things and store them (she was only 15 when her mom died) she can't be assumed to have known it was in that storage facility and thereby charged with failing to turn it into the cops.
It may be a situation where the cops do consider charging these two but realize there won't be sufficient evidence to convict. I do NOT want to fall into the trap of "The cops elected to let this one go since they felt sorry for the MC/girlfriend for getting shot." I realize it's not up to the cops to feel sorry for people; the law is the law. I want the reader to feel completely confident in the manner in which this is addressed and not feel like some convenient "deus ex machina" saved these two.
A tough tangle, I know, but I'd appreciate some insight into how this would play out! Thanks in advance-
Background:
The bad guy is lurking in the MC's apartment as part of his plan to rip off the MC by kidnapping him and compelling him to transfer 2 million dollars overseas. The MC has a legally-owned gun and a CC permit both of which the bad guy knows about. The bad guy does NOT know that MC also has a 9 mm Glock on him which he took off a street punk a few weeks before and has been meaning to turn into the cops since it's clearly hot, with a scratched-off serial number (in fact, the MC was going to turn it in that day which explains why he is carrying it).
Action:
The MC enters the apartment and the bad guy relieves him of his gun. The girlfriend enters with a gun of her own, which she does not legally possess (it belonged to her deceased mother and was put in a storage facility after the mom died). Furthermore, the girlfriend is out on bail.
Girlfriend shoots bad guy. Bad guy shoots MC. MC pulls out Glock and shoots bad guy, grazing him. Bad guy shoots girlfriend. Girlfriend shoots bad guy again, also grazing him. Bad guy flees the scene then dies falling down the stairs.
So, the cops come and find the MC and his girlfriend and take them to the hospital; they both survive. The cops also seize the illegal guns. The girlfriend tells the police (MC is unconscious) that the bad guy brought the Glock and the MC got it away from him and used it to shoot the bad guy. She also tells the cops the bad guy apparently broke into the storage facility and took her mother's gun; she found it outside the building before entering the apartment, then picked it up wondering what the hell was going on, etc. Her angle is the bad guy stole it from her and so she used it to shoot him in self-defense since she just happened to find it where he dropped it by mistake. She had the foresight to file a police report several days beforehand stating the storage facility was robbed (I describe how she suspects the bad guy might be around and up to something so she concludes this may cover her if she has to use her gun), but she does not list the gun on that police report since she claims to have had no notion that it was even there.
Questions:
How thorough will the police be in investigating this shootout? Do they account for every bullet from every gun, including the shots that went wild? Perhaps I can just have the girlfriend make her gun disappear, though I suspect that would be a stretch.
How likely is it the cops will believe the girlfriend and assume the bad guy brought the Glock/stole her gun and dropped it by mistake outside? Bad guy is dead, so nobody can contradict her claims.
How likely is it the MC and his girlfriend don't get charged with having an unlawful firearm? I need her to skate off on this one since the sequel depends on her having a clean criminal record so she can join a federal law enforcement agency (I realize her claims about the illegal guns are shady, but she is acting to protect her boyfriend - part of the theme of my story involves people committing questionable acts for a greater good and how that weighs in on the moral scale). She knows she is tied to that gun since the registration records will show it was her mother's. Since she didn't actually pack up all her mother's things and store them (she was only 15 when her mom died) she can't be assumed to have known it was in that storage facility and thereby charged with failing to turn it into the cops.
It may be a situation where the cops do consider charging these two but realize there won't be sufficient evidence to convict. I do NOT want to fall into the trap of "The cops elected to let this one go since they felt sorry for the MC/girlfriend for getting shot." I realize it's not up to the cops to feel sorry for people; the law is the law. I want the reader to feel completely confident in the manner in which this is addressed and not feel like some convenient "deus ex machina" saved these two.
A tough tangle, I know, but I'd appreciate some insight into how this would play out! Thanks in advance-