Chapter 777 Emergency
Interstate 77 is 613.41 miles long, about 987 kilometers, starting from Cleveland, Ohio in the north and ending in Columbia, South Carolina.
The earliest record of Ronnie's mother's arrest was in Mineral Springs, North Carolina, less than 100 kilometers away from Columbia, the end of this interstate highway. It is a satellite town of Charlotte, the largest city in North Carolina.
After temporarily parting with Jubal and Alice in Marietta, Jack took the others in two Suburbans and drove south. It took nearly a day to arrive in Charlotte.
They did not rush all the way, but stopped and walked along the way, contacting the state police of the states along the way from time to time, which was a disguised way of exerting some pressure.
There was no way around it. The federal characteristics must be tasted. Except for Pennsylvania and West Virginia, where the accident occurred, and the Ohio State Police, which borders these two states, the state police of other states cannot be said to be uncooperative, but it cannot be said that they attach great importance to it.
Especially in states like North Carolina where public security is relatively good, the state police are even more relaxed. For example, in Charlotte, where the wanted criminal team just arrived, there were less than 100 shootings throughout the year, which is already the city with the highest crime rate in the state.
It was just past noon at this moment. After driving into the downtown area, Jack suggested stopping to rest. It was less than 30 kilometers away from the destination, Mineral Springs. Even if there was an accident, it would only take a step on the accelerator. It didn't matter.
Aubrey flipped through his phone for a while and took the initiative to invite everyone to lunch. Knowing that he was a rich man and everyone was exhausted, they didn't hesitate to be polite with him. The two Subaru cars stopped at a famous local Mexican restaurant.
Eating extremely spicy Mexican food in the hot summer is similar to eating hot pot. Fortunately, Mexican food is not all spicy. At least dishes such as cheese grilled asparagus, honey grilled chicken legs and various soups are okay.
Hannah was one of those who had been spoiled by Jack. She frowned after taking a bite of the fried cactus peppers. Jiejie was relatively not so picky and could eat even the avocado salad without changing her expression.
Clay, like Jack, didn't like cilantro very much. He was picking it out of the plate with a fork and frowning.
A police car whizzed by with flashing lights outside the window. At first, no one paid attention, but soon after, the second and third police cars drove by one after another. Even Aubrey, who was eating without thinking, subconsciously looked up and looked out the window.
Not long after, more police cars drove past the corner one after another. Even ordinary people in the restaurant noticed something was wrong and made some commotion.
Jack and Jiejie looked at each other, and the latter took out her phone and made a call. Soon she hung up the phone with a strange look on her face. "A fugitive hunting team led by the Marshals Bureau has an accident, less than a kilometer away from here."
The FBI is not the only one that has a wanted criminal team. Other federal departments will also set up some inter-departmental joint task forces to target some specific or non-specific wanted targets.
Jack and his team are only responsible for the wanted warrants issued by the FBI, but in addition to the FBI, the Federal Marshals Bureau also has the obligation to hunt down fugitives. Of course, they target felons who have escaped from prison and criminals who violate parole orders during parole.
Just when everyone was having dinner, less than a kilometer east of here, at the 5200 block of Galway Street, a task force consisting of 8 police officers from the Federal Marshals Bureau, the Charlotte Metropolitan Police Department (CMPD) and the North Carolina Department of Corrections was ambushed while chasing a fugitive.
"The specific situation is still unclear, but according to the report of the CMPD police officers at the scene, the task force may have been wiped out." Jiejie said in a low voice.
Jack stood up and wiped his mouth with a tissue, signaling a local tycoon who was still a little confused to pay the bill quickly. It's okay if he doesn't know about this kind of thing. If he happens to meet someone, there is no such thing as not helping him.
Although the Wanted Criminals Team has not had much contact with the Federal Marshals Service at present, they are all federal law enforcement units, and it is natural to help each other. If an eight-man team is really wiped out, it will be a big deal that can be reported on the national news in a minute.
Don't look at the news that the old Americans are attacked, injured or killed every three or five days. That is counted nationwide, not to mention the federal police. The last time there were such a large number of casualties can be traced back to the "Waco Massacre" in the last century.
That time, the ATF (Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives) lost 4 agents at one time (and 20 others were injured), but that was against hundreds of cultists. This time it was just arresting a criminal. Even if there were helpers, how many could they have?
If the eight-man team was really wiped out this time, the number of casualties would have doubled. Maybe even a certain president would have to put down his favorite hamburgers and Coke to ask about it.
After leaving the restaurant, the group did not get into the car immediately, but opened the trunks of the two Suburbans and took out various weapons and equipment in the shocked eyes of the guests in the restaurant near the floor-to-ceiling windows.
While Jack put on a heavy bulletproof vest with the eye-catching yellow FBI logo on it, he ordered, "Notify Jubal and ask him to contact the Marshals and CMPD in the name of the FBI Wanted Criminals Team and tell them that we can arrive at the scene to provide assistance within ten minutes."
Clay helped stuff a Noveske N4 he had checked and the magazine into the hands of Aubrey, who was obviously at a loss. The latter was still a little unresponsive at this moment, and didn't understand why everyone who was eating and drinking happily the previous second, put on a posture like going to the battlefield the next second.
Hannah, needless to say, had seen a lot of big scenes with Jack. Jiejie was not bad either. Although she was protected by Jack most of the time and was responsible for playing soy sauce, she also fought against ogres in a small town. The only one who was not used to it was him.
Jack hung the tactical headset with noise reduction function around his neck, and he felt a little regretful about the decision to split into two groups before. Otherwise, when their command vehicle drove nearby, they could directly establish a high-level data command chain and take over the command of the scene naturally.
After everyone put on their equipment and got in the car, the two Saab classes turned on the police lights and sirens and set off again. The ringing of mobile phones in the car never stopped, and the latest news was constantly being summarized.
The fugitive pursuit task force that was ambushed at the scene consisted of two Marshals, two correctional officers (prison guards) from the North Carolina Department of Corrections, and four CMPD police officers. Due to the chaos at the scene, the specific casualties are still unclear.
However, according to the subsequent report of the CMPD police officers who received the alarm and rushed to the scene, the 8-member team was all knocked down in the open with automatic weapons. The gunfight is still going on, and the situation is very bad.
According to the information sent by the Marshals, the purpose of their temporary fugitive pursuit task force is to execute a felony arrest warrant and arrest a felon named Terry Hughes Jr.
Jack looked at the information forwarded by Alice. The skin color was correct, a 39-year-old African American, and the series of charges behind his name were dazzling.
From the first arrest for beating his father at the age of 16, to the following 20 years, this guy has a total of 49 criminal charges including armed robbery, theft, illegal possession of drugs, manufacturing drugs, illegal possession of firearms, serious speeding, driving without a license, violation of probation, resisting arrest, etc.
"Such a person was only imprisoned twice in 2011 and 2013? Is there something wrong with the judicial system of this state?" Clay was a little unbelievable.
Aubrey was a little unconvinced by this, "You should be glad that you joined the FBI. If you are in some local police stations, you will often encounter such scum who is arrested and released right after being arrested."
Hannah and Jiejie were not surprised by this. Compared with the more popular big cities such as New York and Los Angeles, in some small places or areas known as "good public security", some gray industrial chains have long been established.
The criminal was arrested by the police and put in jail. The bail loan company had already opened up all the links. The loan was given to the criminals to pay the money, and the court collected the money and released the criminals immediately. All the procedures were smooth. If there were any problems, the police would be dispatched.
"Get used to it." Jack stopped the car. This place was very close to the scene. Although the sirens of the nearby police cars were blaring, the gunshots like fried beans not far away could still be heard.
I don't know if it was because the distance was too close or Jack and his team reacted too quickly. When they arrived at the scene, the nearby roads were not even blocked.
Two CMPD white-painted police cars were turning the steering wheel to try to turn the car body sideways to block the intersection. The police officers in the car were even a little surprised when they saw two Subaru cars with police lights on and several fully armed FBI officers coming down.