The Standoff at Sparrow Creek (2018)

[FAINT GUNSHOTS]
[DISTANT GUNFIRE]
[TV PLAYING]
[MEAT SIZZLING]
[MALE VOICE ON TV]
[DISTANT GUNFIRE]
[DISTANT CONTINUOUS GUNFIRE]
[DISTANT GUNFIRE]
[TV PLAYING]
MALE VOICE [ON RADIO]:
Guns fired.
Multiple officers down.
Wilcock Road.
Immediate assistance.
I repeat,
multiple officers down.
Heavy armed gunmen
opened fire...
[GUNSHOTS CONTINUE]
[PHONE RINGING]
I heard it.
FORD: What time you got?
6:21.
FORD: Just be here by 6:30.
Nothing but the radio.
[CAR DOOR SLAMS SHUT]
[STEADY TICKING FROM
MOTION SENSOR LIGHT]
That's soothing.
FORD: Inside.
[TICKING CONTINUES]
GANNON: Where are the others?
FORD: They're on their way.
[LIGHT SWITCH CLICKS]
FORD: About 30 minutes ago,
a gunman opened fire
at a crowd of people.
I don't know who,
I don't know why,
I don't know where.
But I know
the rifle was automatic.
GANNON: What's the news say?
FORD: Public shooter,
multiple fatalities.
That's all so far.
BECKMANN:
Do they know whose it was?
- FORD: Whose what was?
- A man walked out of the woods
with an automatic weapon
and started shooting on
a funeral at Wilcock Cemetery.
Do they know whose it was?
On a funeral?
That's what I said.
[DOOR OPENING]
MORRIS: He got away. FORD: Who?
The shooter.
The shooter got away.
- He didn't kill himself?
- No!
FORD: What does that
have to do with anything?
Public shooters usually realize
how badly they fucked up
once they finish.
They also realize the solution
to that feeling,
it's in their hands.
It doesn't matter.
He's still alive.
My bet is, the cops don't even
know where the shooter is.
MORRIS: They're still
searching the area.
Helicopters, ground units,
dogs, door-to-door.
BECKMANN: That's not
going to do anything.
There's enough leaves
in the trees.
It'll will cover him
from the Heli units
and the dogs, they don't pick up
the scents or anything.
FORD: What do you know?
HUBBEL: A guy walked
out of the woods,
opened fire on a funeral
with an AR-15.
- What?
- AR-15 automatic rifle,
body armor, grenades,
flash bangs,
IEDs planted on
the surrounding headstones.
Military grade everything.
FORD: You're confident
on the AR part?
Heard it on the news.
BECKMANN: I don't think
the news realizes
that AR-15's bought off
the rack are semiauto.
MORRIS: So?
BECKMANN: The gun was automatic.
I heard it.
FORD: You heard a modified AR.
Okay. So correct me
if I'm wrong, but now...
aren't we the only people
that have those?
FORD: ARs are legal.
Auto-kits are gettable.
It was the cops.
Cops funeral. Cop in the casket.
Cop in attendance.
The IED shrapnel
took out most of them.
More on their way to St John's.
BECKMANN: Jesus Christ!
This boring you?
What'd you hear, Keating?
BECKMANN: Right.
Can we not waste time
waiting for 'Chief' to speak?
[DOOR OPENING]
FORD: Well, Noah?
They're saying the shooter
on the cop funeral
was a militia man.
How'd they ID him as that?
GANNON: It doesn't matter
how they IDed him,
what matters is,
they announced it.
BECKMANN: So a militia man
just shot up a police funeral
and the remaining cops,
and the inevitable
military reinforcements
are searching for... us.
NOAH: That's what
they're saying.
Then we shouldn't
let that happen.
BECKMANN: Well put,
we need to leave.
What the fuck
are we still doing here?
FORD: Let's back up.
GANNON: No. Don't go anywhere.
Cops already know there's
militia presence in the area.
They've got checkpoints up.
Patrol cars.
That call went out 10 minutes
after the first shot went off.
National Guard reinforcement's
going to get brought in.
Their undersized police force
with not enough cops
or cars to put them in
become a decent size army
with military grade weapons.
Not enough lumber warehouses
to check.
BECKMANN: Okay, fine.
We call the cops.
Say that we didn't do it.
GANNON: You want to
bring them over here?
We have AR-15s, bump stocks,
armor piercing rounds, grenades.
We're militia with intent,
and each one of us here
is going to do 20 years.
FORD: Look, you got a point,
or you just want to tell me
how fucked I am?
GANNON: Look, I'm just saying
that maybe we should
just stay put.
- MORRIS: Until when?
- Until they find the shooter.
And if he's on foot,
that'll be quick enough.
You guys got phones on you?
Standard practice is to check up
on every militia member.
So I guarantee you
they've pinged all our phones.
FORD: Yeah. Batteries out now.
[BATTERIES CLATTERING]
GANNON: No TV. No Internet.
FORD: What now?
GANNON:
Let's clear out the armory.
We should get rid of anything
that can link us to a shooting.
FORD: Let's do it now.
[CLATTERING]
GANNON: One's missing.
FORD: Where's nine?
Who's got it?
They said he was wearing Kevlar.
We're supposed to have 25.
How many?
BECKMANN: Fewer than that.
FORD: Grenades,
last time I counted,
we had two cases, 48.
Safe to say we're several short.
The keypad on that door
has a self-changing combination
every 48 hours.
The only people
aware of that combination
are in this room.
One of you did it.
[SIGHS]
Please...
just man up.
Save us some pain...
and say you did it.
Do it, or I'll radio the cops,
give them our position.
MORRIS: Are you
out of your mind?
FORD:
If I don't give up who did it
and they find us,
we all go down.
Which one of you did it?
BECKMANN:
Why would anyone do that?
Why would he shoot up
a bunch of cops
and then come back here?
GANNON: Arsonists like to
watch their work from a crowd.
This isn't much different.
Where were you?
Me?
- I was at work.
- FORD: Where were you?
MORRIS: McNeil's Bar. What else?
FORD: Where were you?
On a hunt. FORD: Prove it.
There's a still warm eight-point
buck in my truck bed.
FORD: Where were you?
Fuckin' sign or something?
Huh? NOAH: I was at the range.
The guy working there
sold me like 100 rounds
probably 30 minutes ago.
MORRIS: And you?
How do we know it's not you?
How are we sure this isn't some
'old cop attacks his own' shit?
GANNON: I was hunting.
- The truck's outside.
- MORRIS: So is mine. So what?
GANNON: I'm assuming
you've hunted once in your life;
You know the kill bleeds out
in the back of your truck.
Why don't you go outside
and take a look?
I haven't hosed it down...
MORRIS: Both you and Hubbel
have dead game in your truck.
A little convenient.
GANNON: Not really.
It is deer season.
MORRIS: So you're not a suspect
because your car's
covered in blood.
GANNON: If I wanted to kill
a bunch of cops,
and then come here and hide,
is because I want to
get away with it.
If I want to get away with it,
why would I leave blood
in the back of my truck?
And if I want to kill
a bunch of cops
and get away with it,
I'm not putting the dead ones
in the back.
MORRIS: An old cop hermit
living in the woods snaps.
All of a sudden,
there's a shooting,
and his cover was hunting!
And we're the ones
left to explain
why we let him in
in the first place.
FORD: Because four militias
got taken down last year
by infiltrating UC's,
and he keeps us clean.
So unless you have
something of use to say...
no one leaves here
until I find out who did it.
[BECKMANN LAUGHS TO HIMSELF]
How are you planning
on doing that?
FORD: He's gonna question you.
Our only option
is to prove our innocence
that it was a lone gunman.
You say no, and we all go to war
because one of us
has lost his mind.
GANNON:
I'm going to need a baseline.
- How tall are you?
- Go fuck yourself.
How much do you weigh?
Hard.
Did you do it, Morris?
Really fuckin' hard.
GANNON:
Where were you before this?
- At my job.
- Which is?
At school. Grading papers.
I'm sorry,
why are you asking me questions
that you already
know the answer to?
Where are you from?
Michigan, originally.
How tall are you?
5'3.
When is the last time
you measured yourself?
Ms. Wilson's class.
When is your birthday?
What's your favorite color?
Can you see color?
Did you do it?
Where were you before this?
I was at the range.
What time did you get there?
NOAH: I don't know. 4:30 maybe.
I didn't look at the clock.
Why didn't you return my texts?
I didn't have my phone.
Noah, does anybody
in this militia
know that you're a cop?
I don't know.
Any others inside?
I don't know. I don't think so.
I don't know for sure.
I don't know who anyone is
or what the hell happened.
- I've just... I was.
- Shhh. Relax.
I'm relaxed.
What are you doing?
- You can't do that.
- No, it's on the phone now.
Once I turn this on,
the cops will trace it.
They'll be here in 10 minutes.
Wait, wait, Gannon, don't...
I'm gonna tell them you did it.
What are you...
what are you talking about?
You got them to buy
your armor piercing rounds
for the AR-15s,
you did your job.
I'm gonna tell them it was you.
You're going to tell them
who you are.
And you're going
to get confirmed
by your superior.
Wait. Just wait.
My superior was at the funeral.
Marlowe.
The only one who knew
I was undercover.
They said his name on the radio.
He was at the funeral.
He's gone.
If you send me back there,
they'll kill me
just like they would you.
[WHISPERS] Please, Gannon,
I can't go back.
[SIGHS DEEPLY]
Who's running UC's
at the 47th Precinct?
- Kowalski.
- And you have a distress call
in case you need extraction,
right?
Hotel Charlie Echo.
Would he know that?
I don't know. Maybe.
GANNON: Okay.
Okay.
Here's what we're gonna do.
I'm gonna find out who did it,
and we're going to prove it,
and then we get you outta here.
Okay?
Make sure they confess
on tape somehow,
otherwise we have nothing.
GANNON:
I narrowed it down to two.
FORD: Then pick two.
Morris.
MORRIS: Is this a joke?
GANNON: No.
But if you have nothing to hide,
you have nothing to worry about.
FORD: Okay, you said two.
GANNON: Keating.
Hubbel, take Morris
downstairs to the basement.
- Tie him to a chair.
- MORRIS: Put a hand on me,
I'll pull you in by it
and crush your fuckin' skull.
GANNON: Hubbel, you keep
this trained on his chest
from 10 feet away
in case he moves.
HUBBEL: Let's go. FORD: Keys.
[KEYS JINGLE]
GANNON: Keating, do you want to
make this easy on me?
Take Noah out back
and tie him to the fence.
GANNON: I didn't say Noah.
NOAH: I was at the range.
FORD: I was thinking about that.
The range is 20 minutes away.
You were here 10 minutes
after I called you.
- Where were you?
- I was at the range.
I swear to God.
GANNON: Do you know
what you're doing?
FORD: You really think
you're in a position
to question me, Gannon?
Bring the federal lamp outside
when you're done.
We need eyes on the road.
BECKMANN:
Does your foreman still fish?
Is his gear here?
FORD: What has that got to do
with anything?
BECKMANN: Well, I can
convert the fish finder
to pick up radio signals.
We'll know if anybody
with a CB radio is near us.
And I can convert the CB radio
over to LS signals
so that we can dodge traces.
I don't understand.
All right.
I can do a bunch of stuff
so the cops won't find us,
and we'll know
if they're near us.
Then do that. BECKMANN: Good.
And then, go to
the comm room afterwards
and contact
the other militias nearby.
- Tell 'em what?
- Tell 'em we didn't do it.
Then bringing the cars
to the loading dock.
Keys, both of you now.
GANNON: Beck. BECKMANN: Yeah.
When you're on the CB,
if you hear of a cop
named Kowalski,
you say this to him twice.
He's a friend of mine.
- What does it mean?
- It means stand down.
We have the situation
under control.
BECKMANN: All right.
[CLEARS THROAT]
[DOOR OPENS AND CLOSES]
How long does something
like this usually take?
Hours. Days sometimes.
Okay.
You got neither. Get going.
GANNON: Did you bring that deer
to your truck on your own?
HUBBEL: Mm-hmm.
GANNON:
Can you bring it down here?
HUBBEL: Okay.
Hey, how are you doing?
You're right.
I'm so sorry about this.
I'd to bring you down here
because I think it's Keating.
And if I don't have Keating
relaxed and thinking
he's going to get away with it,
then the whole thing is shot.
And why am I
still tied to a chair?
It's got to look like
I really interrogated you.
Once sec, don't go anywhere.
How are those zip ties?
Are they too tight?
You better speak up now
because if your circulation
gets cut off, you are fucked.
I'd untie you myself,
but we got to
keep the appearances up
just in case
someone comes down here.
Cops deserved it, if you ask me.
I knew it when I was a cop.
It's only a matter of time.
Ticking clock. GANNON: Yeah.
I still remember
what you said to me.
The night I joined this militia,
you said, "One day, someone's
going to snap on you people."
Kill every one of you."
[WATER BEING POURED]
And then you said,
"I might be the one to do it."
Pretty good memory you got.
It was a pretty
memorable thing to say.
You're telling me
I'm the only person
who's thinking that
at a militia meeting?
No, I think everyone
here feels the same way.
- Including you.
- Including me.
And yet, I'm tied to this chair
and you're free
to be over there.
This hypothetical situation
you threatened me with
a year ago,
that actually happened tonight.
So we're not just
keeping up appearances, are we?
No.
[INDISTINCT].
[BOTH MEN GROANING WITH EFFORT]
GANNON: All right. Thank you.
This is the part
where you ask me
why I hate cops so much?
When you took a psych evaluation
when you got your discharge
from the Corps,
turns out you have a fear
of authoritative figures
due to your abusive father.
The truth is,
my job is to profile.
Because of the situation
and lack of time,
let's just assume
you are the shooter.
Late 40's, early 50's.
Now I can't see
the clover leaf tattoo,
but I'm assuming it is there
because you are
ex Aryan Nations.
The person sitting in your seat
has two choices.
Confession or denial.
What makes your circumstance
so special
is that if you confess to me,
I'm gonna run upstairs
and I'm gonna radio the news,
which means you're public.
People are gonna know your name.
People are gonna know
why you did it.
There's going to be a trial,
and then you're
going to go to jail.
But in your case,
jail as a punishment is defense,
because if you don't
confess to me
right here, right now,
the cops come and get you,
and if the cops find you...
sure as water's wet
and time ticks,
you get no trial.
You're not going to jail.
You get tortured
within an inch of your life,
and then you just disappear.
That's it.
Nobody knows your name.
Nobody knows why you did it,
and nobody knows
why you martyred yourself.
People are just going to ask,
what happened to that guy?
I don't know. Well...
I already know you did it.
I just wonder why you did it.
And think about this,
the reason
you're gagging right now
and I'm fine with the smell
is just to let you know
I'm not lying.
That's it?
You know I did it 'cause of
something I said a year ago.
Buddy, you got no evidence.
You're an ex-member
of the Jackson Aryan
Brotherhood, correct?
- Yeah.
- They were responsible
for six cop murders
in three years.
It doesn't mean I did 'em.
You have experience
dismantling improvised
explosive devices in Iraq.
Dismantling, not making,
you fuckin' genius.
The best way to learn
how to make some things
is to take it apart.
You got an affinity
for assault rifles,
and then that little
inadvertent admission to me,
an ex-cop, that you were
thinking about an attack
a year ago that just happened
to happen tonight.
So you see, evidence
really isn't an issue,
but you see what happens
if you deny this.
You and whatever,
whoever you care about,
they become a stain
on the basement floor.
I want to help you avoid that.
Even if I did it...
why is it that you think
I would've done it?
Aryan Nation
is blood in, blood out.
If you'd the balls to leave,
they probably came after you
pretty hard.
But they don't threaten you
with death.
They come and they try to
destroy everything you love.
Everybody you know.
I'm pretty sure you would go
to extremes to avoid that.
You went after the people
they hate the most.
You get back
in their good graces.
Are you serious?
I'm the moron ex-Aryan bro
looking to get busted.
[SARCASTIC CHUCKLE]
That's the best you can do?
Yeah, that's it.
Fuck, you got me, man.
I am spooked.
Phew! [SIGHING HARD]
I was terrified.
They were going to kill me.
I was desperate.
Scared as a lost little girl.
That was it right there.
Why did you do that?
Why do you use that word?
I know your whole history.
Aryan phase, let's call it that.
You had all these priors.
Conspire B&E, conspire to sell,
and then it was just nothing.
And then you join the militia.
So it just makes me believe
that there was something
that happened.
Not on the books.
It's not in any of the reports.
Something happened
that made you stop...
until tonight.
[MORRIS BREATHES OUT LOUDLY]
I know you're a hard ass,
Morris,
and I know you're not allowed to
care about anybody or anything
because then you're not
a hard ass anymore,
but I just got this feeling
like it was personal.
Someone hurt
somebody you care about.
So you wanted to hurt them.
What happened?
A cop fuck your wife?
Beat up your sister?
Bang your daughter?
What happened?
[ON RADIO]: Rick McCollum here.
Gary, Indiana.
Responding to
a distress call I got.
BECKMANN: Rick.
We're isolated tech-wise
and not giving out
any specific locations.
So, please excuse my vagueness.
RICK: Alright, go ahead.
We're calling out
to all militia, letting you know
that we had nothing to do
with anything on the news.
RICK: Copy that.
You mean what's happening
in Michigan or Pennsylvania?
Wait, what's happening now?
RICK: Are you serious?
GANNON: Tell me
what happened to her?
Unless you're trying to
join your friends
- from the cemetery.
- No, just tell me
what they did to her.
If the reason you did this
was halfway understandable,
the public needs to know.
The jury will take pity on you.
You get moved to a safer prison
away from the Aryan Brotherhood.
What if what you did
wasn't wrong?
Think about that.
What if what you did
was understandable?
You got kids?
Two.
Boys, girls? GANNON: Girls?
How old? GANNON: 8 and 12.
What if one of them got raped?
I'd kill the guy who did it.
What if it was a gang?
What if they killed her after?
When the gang got busted,
you find out there was
an undercover cop inside,
watched it happen
and did nothing,
just to keep his cover safe.
You try to go public,
but lawyers don't have enough
to make a case
and who's going to
represent a guy
who's been a part of
what I have?
So the cops keep the case
private,
the cop anonymous,
and turn you
into a conspiracy nut.
I bet you knew who he was.
You guys go huntin',
watch the game on Sunday.
Celebrate when you heard
he wasn't being charged.
If what happened to my daughter
was done by a normal person,
they'd be looking
at the death penalty.
Why shouldn't a cop?
You did what
any parent would do.
You didn't start this, Morris.
They did.
Tell me you did it.
Tell me you did it.
I killed that son of a bitch
because he watched
my daughter die,
and I waited a week,
and came back
for the rest of 'em
who let him get away with it.
You want me to confess to doing
what needed to be done?
Fine. Go get the radio.
What was his name?
Who?
The cop you killed,
what was his name?
Michaels.
I'll bring the radio down.
He's lying.
The funeral was for a cop
named Callahan, not Michaels.
We use him anyway.
Give him to the cops,
they got their man.
Give up the position
of the entire group
to hand over the wrong guy?
It buys us time.
They're not going to break him.
[FORD SLAPS MORRIS]
When I get out of this...
Well, have at it.
You just wanted to
give her some publicity.
You didn't do shit.
You still think
they won't break him?
[DOOR OPENS]
[LIGHT SWITCH CLICKS OFF]
BECKMANN: It's spreading.
There's been three more attacks
on cops, all by militias.
FORD: Where?
BECKMANN: One in South Dakota
on a police precinct,
one in Utah on a district court,
and one in Pennsylvania
on a cop car.
How many cops down total?
- Eighty, give or take.
- Take how many?
Well, if I knew
the answer to that,
I wouldn't have said
give or take.
Talked to any of the leaders?
BECKMANN: Two. Both said
they're ready to launch attacks.
GANNON: Where?
Pennsylvania, and another one
about seven miles from here.
The 47th Precinct.
Take out the last of them,
they said.
They keep saying
they were inspired by them.
GANNON: No, no!
We can't let them do that.
Did you bet on the 48th
or something?
You're too close in proximity.
We're both
under the same umbrella.
- Or a different group.
- GANNON: To who?
Do it.
Tell them we had nothing
to do with this.
To stop following it.
Alright.
I need to talk to Keating.
HUBBEL: You talk to people?
Never heard you talk.
Don't know if you ever
even spoke before.
I live here 13 years now,
so I keep quiet myself.
They've got schools
for kids like you?
I was a highway contractor...
until one of my crew
fucked up a pour.
Used cheaper concrete
than usual.
I had a pothole so big,
a semi hit it and capsized.
Eighteen-car pileup.
Five dead.
I cover for the foreman
and get the crew to keep quiet.
One night, the foreman started
tellin' me about coming clean,
'cept his coming clean
was a lie.
He'd get reduced time
if he said that me and my crew
wanted to use
that cheap concrete
to cause the rupture.
Now, I didn't have one,
but all my crew
had family at home.
How are they going to
take care of their own
from Jackson Correctional?
So I killed him.
Moved out here,
save the others a lot of trauma.
But I gotta say,
sometimes I get tired
and I miss it. Back there.
GANNON: Hey Hubbel,
wanna post up somewhere else?
FORD: It's not Keating.
What?
We know it's not Morris.
Right.
FORD: Then that leaves Keating.
The fuckin' mute moron
who is incapable of talking,
much less manning
goddamn inspiring attack.
Or Noah, who is.
Keating's not our guy.
No, you have to
let me question him.
FORD: No, you don't.
He's not the guy.
Then what are you proposing?
FORD: We write a confession.
Have Noah call the cops
on the CB to say he did it.
Then we hand him over to them.
- Why don't you get this?
- Wait a minute.
Are you telling me you think
it's Noah because he was late?
- FORD: No, because...
- But you don't think
it's Keating
because he doesn't talk.
Do you have any idea
what's going on out there?
Do you get it?
This thing has spread.
If we don't pin this
on one person,
this whole thing is
going to turn into something
that's not going to end,
and a lot of people
are going to die.
It wasn't Noah.
Why not Noah,
you smug son of a bitch?
Do you know something
I don't know?
Okay. You know what?
You're right.
You're right. It's Noah.
That's the best option you got.
Besides, it's not like
when the shootings happen,
that the gunman
was ever described as...
detached...
quiet, antisocial.
It's not like when these things
happen, anybody ever says,
I never imagined
it would have been that guy.
Right?
I'm going to
question my suspect.
I'd like you
to stay out of my way.
What?
You're hiding something.
What is it?
HUBBEL: We always knew
this was going to happen.
BECKMANN [ON RADIO]:
Calling out to Abilene Militia.
Do not engage
with the 47th Precinct.
- I repeat.
- [SLOW, STEADY BEEPING]
HUBBEL: We've been coming here,
getting together every week
for years to be prepared.
Well, what have we
been prepping for?
For the day
we hoped we'd never see,
the day the seize happens.
The morning Doomsday rolls in.
[RADIO BEEPING]
Well, that day may look
a little different now,
but that day is here.
They say a militia man did this
and we're sitting here
trying to make everybody think
it wasn't us.
GANNON: If you turn that on,
they come here
and none of us make it out.
HUBBEL: We should be
at the armory loading up,
go to that cop precinct
as one...
us versus them,
because this fight,
it has started,
and we got to win it.
So we go to war with cops?
Deep down,
who didn't really want that?
[DISTANT CLATTERING]
- BECKMANN: Hey.
- [RUNNING FOOTSTEPS]
Hey, there's a car
rolling down now.
FORD: Lights out.
BECKMANN: Lights out now! Now!
[LIGHTS OUT]
[CAR PULLS UP OUTSIDE]
[]
GANNON: What the hell
are you doing?
FORD: I'm not gonna die
for something I didn't do.
[GANNON SIGHS]
[SHUTTER CLATTERING]
[SHUTTER CLATTERING]
FORD: [WHISPERS]
If he sees Noah,
the others will go.
[SHUTTER CLATTERING]
GANNON: Call in a location
with other militia.
[WHISPERING]
What are you talking about?
Listen to me,
the cops will leave
if you call another location.
The militia that was
gonna attack the 47th.
[HEAVY BREATHING]
[SHUTTER CLATTERING]
GANNON: [MUTTERS] The side door.
He's gonna see Noah.
Goddamn it!
[SHUTTER CLATTERING]
FEMALE VOICE [ON RADIO]:
Six-one-two...
BECKMANN:
I'd like to report the location
of a militia in Kitchman
planning an attack
on the 47th Precinct.
Their location is 1-8-9-2-1.
[CRUNCHING FOOTSTEPS]
[STATIC ON DISPATCH RADIO]
POLICE OFFICER: Dispatch,
this is Unit 4301, copy that.
- En route.
- [RADIO CLICKS OUT]
[CAR DOOR OPENS]
[CAR ENGINE STARTS]
GANNON: Hey!
I'm gonna go check on Noah.
FORD: Hubbel, go with him.
You won't mind company.
[DOOR OPENS]
[DOOR CREAKS]
GANNON: Hey Hubbel, I need to
go talk to the suspect alone.
Why don't you stand here
and try not to
fuck everything up
by being yourself?
[GANNON SIGHS]
GANNON: It wasn't Morris.
NOAH: How do you know?
GANNON: It was Keating.
- NOAH: You questioned him?
- Not yet.
NOAH: Then, how do you know?
Because it has to be.
You'll never get him to confess.
He doesn't talk.
Then he can write it down.
They'll kill me if you don't
get him to confess.
I'm not going to leave you here.
All right?
You're my brother.
I'll get you out.
[CHUCKLES]
[EXHALES DEEPLY]
GANNON: All right. FORD: Hey...
Need you here.
Kinda in the middle
of something...
FORD: Now.
If you try and go over my head
like that again,
I'll hand you over
to the cops myself.
Turn it up.
AM NEWS 1130 FEMALE REPORTER:
Took place over 30 seconds,
and the assailant
fired off 400 rounds,
but police have informed us
in fact, it took two minutes
and 1,400 rounds.
Also, the attack took place on
the south side of the cemetery,
which has authorities puzzled,
considering the difficulties
to gain access
to the south side by car.
- For AM News 11:30, I'm...
- [CB TURNED DOWN]
FORD: If you can't prove
it's Keating,
I'm going to write
a confession note,
I'm going to string a noose,
and I'm going to hang Noah.
Beckmann says public shooters
usually kill themselves.
Then this one can too,
just a little later than usual.
[CLATTERING]
[ZIPPING]
[FOOTSTEPS]
[GANNON STARTS A FORKLIFT]
GANNON:
I know you don't talk much.
I also know you can hear.
Page nine.
That is particularly
interesting.
"Each and all,
they will lay reticent."
"Taciturn..."
"Gone to the dim
and out with silence."
"Their crime"
"whose only punishment fit"
"is execution,"
[CLEARS THROAT]
"Yet it could have been ceased,"
"extinguished, yielded,"
"if only"
"the ones who spoke"
[EXHALES]
"Are established."
[RUSTLING]
Keating, let me explain
what's gonna happen to you here.
You're either going to confess,
or I'm going to say you did it.
And they will come here,
and they're going to put
your neck in that...
and you're gonna swing from it.
And that really
would be a tragedy
because no one is gonna know
what you had to say in all this.
KEATING: This was nice.
A very nice thing to watch.
But did you really think
it would work?
This little performance
would make me want to confess?
A stage reading in my journal,
which is inadmissible at best,
would excite me
to take responsibility
for these actions?
I can tell you're not using
FAINT interview technique
due to your lack of structure,
but as nice as this was,
it wasn't effective.
[RUNNING FOOTSTEPS]
FORD: Are you
out of your fuckin' mind?
Did you fire off
a fuckin' round?
Yes.
He did.
POLICE SQUAD CAR 1:
Negative, Clark County,
Nevada just had
three separate attacks. Over.
POLICE HQ RADIO: Copy that.
Any news activity
in Texas as well? Over.
POLICE SQUAD CAR 2:
Copy. How many Tac units
got dispatched to Top Hill?
Over.
KOWALSKI'S VOICE:
Kowalski, here.
That's 23 units, two-three.
Over.
Running up to
Groves and Witheby,
got a call on a vacant auto.
Over.
Yes, Lieutenant Kowalski. Over.
POLICE HQ RADIO: This is
a closed channel, goddamn it.
Copy that.
I have a message for you.
Hotel Charlie Echo.
I repeat, Hotel Charlie Echo.
KOWALSKI: Who is this?
I-I can't...
I can't tell you that.
KOWALSKI: Hang on, HQ.
Got a group of men
inside the vehicle
on Groves and Witheby. Over.
POLICE HQ RADIO:
Copy that. Kowalski,
proceed with caution.
And whoever this is, I repeat,
this is a closed
goddamn channel.
KOWALSKI: HQ, HQ, men descending
on my position from tree-line!
Immediate assistance requested,
I repeat...
[STATIC AND THEN SILENCE
ON RADIO]
POLICE HQ DISPATCH: Kowalski?
MALE VOICE: Kowalski,
please respond.
KEATING:
Try not to seem so shocked.
Any person of intelligence
will keep silent
in this environment.
HUBBEL: An outcast mute,
all of a sudden,
starts talking like he's a book.
I got a feeling
this has been rehearsed.
GANNON: If you want me to talk
to Salinger here,
I need you guys to walk away.
Now you picked a pretty
special night to start talking.
KEATING: Most topics
under discussion here,
I disagree with or am not
qualified to give an opinion on.
GANNON: So why even be here?
KEATING: I was instructed
to socialize more.
- GANNON: By who?
- Whom.
You seem smart. Guess.
GANNON: So you picked
a militia to socialize.
KEATING: This is the only
environment which qualifies
where no one cared
whether or not I spoke
as long as I showed up
and believed in the cause.
GANNON: Right,
I'm gonna have to ask you
a few more questions
just because I'm now
dealing with a completely
different human being.
KEATING: Be my guest.
- GANNON: What's your name?
- Keating Vassileff.
GANNON: Where do you live?
KEATING: 6420, Clifton Road.
GANNON: How old are you?
KEATING: 23.
GANNON: What is the highest
grade of education
you completed?
KEATING: I was four credits
short of graduating
summa cum laude
on a Mitchell Scholarship
at University of Michigan.
At 19, however...
Did you commit the shooting?
Which one?
What do you mean, which one?
One put an officer
in the ground,
another took down those
attending his funeral.
Which one?
Did you conspire
to commit either?
KEATING: Conspire, as in
making plans in secret
in an attempt to carry out
an unlawful or harmful act
with another human being?
Yeah, that's the one.
KEATING: There's something
you have to understand about me.
I'm isolated.
And because of my isolation,
I've had to compensate.
And my personal form of such
was learning,
absorbing knowledge,
collecting information.
So I know all the ways
you failed to do
what it is you're
currently trying to do.
MITT technique. Scan method.
Integrated irrelevant questions.
None will work.
So please, sit.
Give me everything you have.
Show me my mistakes.
Show me how you know it was me.
You're not going to make this
easy on me, are you?
Easy for me? Yes.
For you? I can't say.
GANNON: You have enough
ammunition in your locker
to take down
a branch of government.
KEATING: That's militia armor.
There's enough evidence in there
to incriminate every one of us.
You've the map of the cemetery
and a plan
and the exact same style
of attack.
Plans? Yes. Of what?
Who could say?
GANNON: It's a 300-page
manifesto of reasons
why the world
never listened to you,
wrapped up in the psychopath
gold standard
of a fucking novel.
I'm still learning
my writing style.
Do you ever lie
to get out of trouble?
I've never been in trouble.
Ever tried to
get even with someone?
Getting even means
lowering yourself. So, no.
Comparative questions and
leveraging identifiable traits.
This isn't working.
Change tactic.
What are you gonna do when they
find your DNA at the cemetery?
They will.
I walk there, all the time.
God, you're a smart kid.
A compliment to gain rapport.
This is insulting to the mental
capacity of the accused.
Is that something they recommend
when teaching this method?
You know what's interesting?
- What?
- Why haven't you
brought up the fact
that Morris and Noah
have splash patterns of mud
on their pant legs, and I don't?
GANNON: It didn't rain today.
KEATING: But it rained all week.
Safe to say
there's mud near a cemetery
if you're escaping on foot.
GANNON: Safe to say you own
another pair of pants.
Why haven't you swabbed
copper and potassium chloride
on our wrists to see
whose show gunpowder residue?
Because you'd see that
I haven't shot a gun in days,
but one of them has.
Gun residue tests
are inherently unreliable.
Did you forget that we live
within two miles of each other?
And I assume you heard it.
I thought it was
fireworks at first.
So I turned on
my police scanner.
"Shots fired on
officer funeral in progress."
1010, Wilcox Road,
explosive devices detonated.
"Immediate assistance requested."
So what? You know what
they said on the radio.
You could have heard it
while you were attack...
I could have heard a radio
over an AR-15 assault rifle?
GANNON:
Are you going to stop? I get it.
You do? GANNON: Yeah, I do.
You know, when I first
went off by myself,
people asked if I was lonely.
And I answered them people
looking at me funny
saying they didn't think
I knew how to talk.
You know, and they said
loneliness is
worse than smoking.
It causes heart disease,
depression, suicide,
early death in all its variants.
I say, bullshit.
I say, togetherness,
that's weakness.
Loneliness brought us
everything.
Loneliness brought us the great
books, great musicians.
I say loneliness builds...
I lie.
Because the truth is,
I live in a room alone.
I got the shades drawn,
bottles on the floor,
all the smartest ways
to hate the world
and fastest ways to go insane.
Brilliant. Morose. Typical...
just like you.
Both of us thinking we're
poles apart from each other.
Both of us thinking
that we're the other ones
that people look up to.
You're brilliant, Keating.
You're just like me.
I know you did it.
And we're not going to stop
until you say you did.
[KEATING SIGHS HEAVILY]
Force of assertion plus
leverage to get a confession.
I don't mean to trade
monologues with you,
but you know what happens
in solitary confinement?
I got a feeling
I'm gonna find out.
Sensory deprivation,
social skills nullify,
they move their beds to the wall
so that they can feel something.
You say loneliness builds.
I say it amplifies.
Makes you notice
what you wished you didn't.
And the real question is,
how do you fight that feeling?
You sleep with your TV on
and have friends who
you've nothing in common with,
marry who you don't love?
Join a militia
for an unknown reason.
Whatever put you out there
by yourself, Gannon,
eavesdropping on the world
that lost its use for you,
punishing society by
depriving it of your presence,
I really don't care about.
What I do care about is:
What could possibly
bring you back into this?
I told you why
I joined the militia,
- but why would you?
- [GANNON SNIFFLES]
I mean, you don't strike me
as a classic 'minuteman'
so that takes 'belief' out.
An ex-cop moves out on his own
suggests you wanted to
be away from guns,
not be near them again.
So I'm left with: A person.
Someone in here
secretly matters to you
more than you let on.
So, who is it?
I can't say it's me.
Beckmann seems a little
high strung for you.
Morris? No.
Hubble? No.
That leaves Ford...
and Noah.
What's so special
about him, Gannon?
What's it going to feel like
having to hang someone
so important to you?
GANNON: Open your fuckin' mouth.
Open your mouth. Eat it.
Eat it, you little shit, say it.
I wanna hear you say it.
I wanna hear you say you did it,
or I'm gonna feed you
your own fuckin' diary.
Your own fuckin' diary!
[KEATING GAGS AND COUGHS]
[PANTING]
FORD: Where we at
with Holden Caulfield?
Gannon?
[GANNON SIGHS]
FORD: Bring Noah in.
No!
GANNON:
You know, all these shootings;
You know what
they all have in common?
Everyone knows
the shooter's name.
What if...
I took that away from you?
What if I did it?
You won't.
[GUN CLICKS]
GANNON: You asked me
a question, Keating.
Why did I leave?
When I was a cop,
I worked in anti-gang units.
I was a UC; We'd go into
these different groups.
We'd plant evidence,
and we raid 'em.
There's another cop
I used to work with, Richmond.
And we were taking down
a white supremacy cell.
I got a call from my superior.
He says, meet me...
out in the woods.
What are we doin' out here?
GANNON: Eleven of 'em come out.
[GUN CLICKS]
So he starts taking
these bullets...
and he's throwing 'em
at my feet,
tacks to see if I'd move.
ROMAN: If we do this,
and blame it
on the Klan cell you're in,
we can raid them tonight,
and any other group that
they're working with by Rico.
You're out.
If we do what?
[SWITCH CLICKS ON]
GANNON: And there was Richmond.
ROMAN:
We've been sending him threats
from the Klan cell
for the past three months.
Got fingerprints from
Klan members left at his house
and we can place
three of his key leaders
at this scene here tonight.
So, now, all you need to do...
Why him?
We need a body.
And the only other person
we can place prints on, is you.
[EMPTY CLICK OF GUN]
GANNON: Kill one of your own
to take down the others.
I need to know where you stand.
[SINGLE GUNSHOT]
GANNON: We raided
15 Klan cells that week,
stopped 'em from doing
God knows what.
But I was done.
I lost someone that night.
I'm not going to do it again.
Tonight should've been me.
[ROTATING PISTOL BARREL]
And now when they find my body,
who will it be?
[LOUD GUNSHOT]
KEATING: I did it.
My name is Keating Vassileff.
I'm 23 years old.
I live at 6420 Clifton Road.
I'm the gunman
who attacked the funeral.
I planned the attack alone.
I carried it out alone.
The militias had no prior
knowledge of my intentions,
nor do they condone my actions.
The weapon used is my AR-15,
which I obtained legally
without any additional
participant
in the delivery of the weapon
or ammunition.
I chose to attack
north side Wilcox Cemetery
because that's the fastest
route to the highway
so that the attack
could take place
in less than 30 seconds.
And that's when I fired up
about, about 400 rounds.
400 exactly.
And, I chose to escape on foot
because that would have
the least amount of attention
for that kind of travel,
and no one would expect
someone such as myself
to have the mental acuity
to see through the expectations
of what people think
I'm capable of, consistently.
The reasoning for my assault,
for my raid on these people,
is justified and warranted
by those attacked
who forced me to be
the champion of this cause
because, because
they chose to ignore me.
They chose not to listen to me.
They chose not to include me.
So I...
I included them.
Their inefficiency,
their ineptitude,
their mediocrity,
their blatant inferiority
is what delivered
this reckoning.
And I acted as the pitchfork,
as the staff,
as, as the...
Um, and, and that's,
that's why I did what I did.
I'll be waiting on the corner
of Mound and Middlebelt Road
in 25 minutes, unarmed.
Are we good?
POLICE OFFICER 1:
Another false confession.
POLICE OFFICER 2:
Third one in the last hour.
POLICE OFFICER 3:
They just keeping coming.
Don't pay any attention.
POLICE OFFICER 2: You may wanna
think about changing channels
to cut down on the nut factor.
FORD: Two people
lying about the same crime
in less than an hour.
GANNON: It's my job
to get a confession.
Not the truth.
FORD: It's Noah.
[DOOR OPENS]
[DOOR CLOSES]
It's not Morris...
and it's not Keating.
Noah...
I need to hear,
I need to hear you didn't do it.
Tell me you didn't do it.
All I ever wanted
was to not be
an embarrassment to you,
just once, Gannon.
Just once.
GANNON:
What are you talking about?
What did you do?
I'm sorry.
[NOAH SNIFFS]
You don't understand.
[DOOR BANGS OPEN, CREAKS]
GANNON: Whoa, whoa, whoa!
FORD: You have got a gun.
Untie him.
GANNON: You're making
a big mistake here.
I need you to listen to me
for a second.
Alright. Listen to me.
FORD: Step away. Step away.
GANNON: Listen to me.
It's not him.
Ford...
wait a minute.
Stop!
Ford, he's my brother.
FORD: So?
[STRUGGLING FOOTSTEPS]
NOAH: Gannon.
[GANNON PANTING]
Gannon!
[NOAH GRUNTS]
I didn't do it.
[GRUNTS]
Gannon, please.
Please, Gannon. Please.
[FORKLIFT SWITCHED ON]
[FORKLIFT SWITCHED OFF]
[PHONE RINGING]
FORD: Who's got their phone?
Who's got their fucking phone?
Spread out, find it!
Find it!
Watch him.
[PHONE CONTINUES TO RING]
You know where it is.
[STEADY PINGS]
[STEADY PINGS CONTINUE]
[LOUDER BEEPING]
GANNON:
The cops are coming, man.
I need you ready.
- HUBBEL: How long do we have?
- [LOUD GRUNT AND THUD]
[HUBBEL GRUNTS]
[CLATTERING]
[NOAH GROANS]
[PHONE RINGING GETS LOUDER]
KEATING: It's a timer.
[PHONE RINGING STOPS]
[NOAH GROANS]
GANNON: Come on,
are you alright?
Come on. Get up.
Can you walk? Come on.
[NOAH GRUNTS]
FORD: The whole time!
You ruined us.
You brought this.
[FAINT BANGS OUTSIDE]
[FAINT BANGS OUTSIDE]
[TEAR GAS CANISTERS CRASH]
Out! Now!
[GRUNTS]
[PANTING]
[PANTING]
[DOOR OPENS]
[COUGHS]
[GRUNTS]
[INDISTINCT CHATTER ON RADIO]
POLICE OFFICER:
Are you undercover?
[SHUTTERS CLATTERING]
[LOUD CLATTER]
Ford, tell them
it was you and me.
It was you and me.
Ford, you just
got to tell the truth.
You tell them it was you and me,
and everybody else goes free.
FORD: He's lying.
GANNON: You guys hear that?
It was me and Ford.
FORD: Shut the fuck up.
[MOTION LIGHT TICKING]
[CONTINUES TO TICK]
[HEAVY BREATHING]
[TICKING CONTINUES]
[LIGHTS SWITCHED OFF]
[HEAVY GUNFIRE]
[HEAVY BREATHING]
[CAR DOORS CLOSE]
[INDISTINCT CHATTER ON RADIO]
[HEAVY BREATHING]
KOWALSKI: Alright, get Noah up.
KOWALSKI [ON RADIO]:
Kowalski here with 23 unit.
HQ, HQ, militia ascending
on my position from tree line.
Immediate assistance requested.
I repeat. Immediate assistance.
Get them back to
the precinct to be debriefed.
FEMALE OFFICER [ON RADIO]:
32, Oscar Victor Charlie...
I've got a Caucasian male
at the lumber warehouse
on Sparrow and Cedar.
AM NEWS 1130 REPORTER: Attack
took place over 30 seconds,
and the assailant
firing off 400 rounds.
AM News 11:30.
FEMALE OFFICE [ON RADIO]:
Need immediate Evac.
PATROLMAN:
Somebody get HQ on the radio.
Tell them we need
a body disposal unit.
[GUNFIRE]
POLICE OFFICER: We've got
four down, right away, please.
[INDISTINCT CHATTER ON RADIO]
All they did was make threats.
Say they were
going to attack us,
we needed to do something.
[DISTANT GUNFIRE]
So we faked an attack
on ourselves.
You made it up?
And all it took was
hiding a single gun
to make them
tear themselves apart.
We plant the seed of society
being torn down,
chaos actually happening,
spreading,
making them believe that
others were following along,
that they started
some revolution.
Coming together
as who we needed them to be.
They believed
they weren't alone in this,
but really,
they're part of nothing.
An Ex-Aryan Brotherhood member
who ties to cop murders.
A missing highwayman
responsible for five deaths,
some kid plotting to shoot up
his old high school.
These aren't a loss, Gannon.
These are pieces on a board
for a bigger play.
Northern Michigan militia
found with automatic weapons.
Armor piercing rounds,
and plans to attack
a police funeral.
If you bring in
the best interrogator
the police ever had?
Someone who's
made people confess
to what they've never
done countless times?
Someone who knows
we track signals,
and will keep the militia
on a defensive,
unreachable lockdown.
One night gives us
a tipping point.
No more psychopaths
with automatic rifles,
no more lunatics
who can go buy a machine gun
and walk into a school.
We did it perfectly.
[POLICE OFFICERS SHOUTING]
Stay down.
Put it down, Gannon.
Why didn't you tell me?
[SNIFFS]
You could have just...
[EXHALES]
After everything I did.
Why didn't you just tell me?
I'm sorry.
You're not a cop anymore.
POLICE OFFICER:
Good to see you again, brother.
NOAH: You too.
KOWALSKI: Guns down.
Take care of yourself out there.
You know...
We could use some help.
Coming?
Whenever I get lonely
From my daydreams of you
These words I read remind me
Of the love we once knew
They tell of all
The happiness of days gone by
And I grieve until it
Dries the tears that
Come to my eyes
I know those days are gone
And are a part of the past
But memories and dreams
Of them forever will last
And I must learn To realize
You're no longer mine
While the poetry will
Comfort me with every line
I tell myself you're
Thinking of me
Each time I think about you
But now I know
It never could be
They told me forget him
It's the only thing to do
And so when I get lonely
From my daydreams of you
These words I read remind
Me of the love we once knew
And I must learn To realize
You're no longer mine
While the poetry will
Comfort me with every line
What for the radiance
Which was once so bright
And now forever taken
From my sight
Though nothing
Can bring back
The hour of splendor
In the grass
Of glory in the flower
We will grieve not
We'll define strength
In what remains behind
[BACKGROUND CHORUS]
[BACKGROUND CHORUS]
[WIND BLOWING]