To Catch a Killer

During Baltimore's New Year's Eve fireworks, a mysterious marksman shoots 29 partygoers at different locations from a downtown high-rise. He detonates explosives to obscure the trail, making it hard for police to determine if the events are connected. Investigators race to trace the gunfire and link the incidents before more lives are lost.

FBI Agent Geoffrey Lammark leads the investigation with Baltimore Police Department cooperation. He overhears Officer Eleanor Falco countering the idea that the shooter is crazy by remarking that he is 'swatting mosquitos.' Impressed by her insight, he recruits her to be his liaison to the BPD.

The team learns the shooter is well-trained and has covered his tracks, with no link to the apartment used as a sniper nest. The rifle predates known firearms databases, complicating the search. The case shifts from chaos to a carefully planned, elusive threat.

The shooter strikes again at a shopping mall, where security confronts a shopper accused of stealing clothes. Security footage suggests the trip was not for loot but to eat, bathe, and shop, yet he pulls an Uzi from a duffel bag. He kills guards and shoppers and rigs hand grenades to detonate as the SWAT team closes in.

A provocative cable news host becomes a focal point for public fear, and a caller is believed to be the shooter. Lammark's superiors order him to arrest the man traced to a cornerstore; a shootout follows, resulting in the caller's friends' deaths and a serious injury to team member Marquand.

Further questioning confirms the caller is a radical making empty threats rather than the shooter. The Bureau blames Lammark for earlier missteps and fires him from the case. An angry Eleanor returns home, sensing a crucial link someone they interviewed may have hidden.

Eleanor and Lammark question Lang, who explains his method of hiring ex-cons when immigrant labor is too expensive. He identifies the shooter as Dean Possey, noting his veganism captured on mall surveillance. Lang recalls that he had employed Dean and that he had a past connection to violence.

The team traces Dean to a Maryland slaughterhouse and speaks with Ramona, a former coworker who identifies the police sketch as Dean Possey. She recalls Dean being bullied by a coworker named Alonso, who is later found dead in a meat grinder. Ramona notes that Dean served only a couple of years for a prior crime.

The investigation leads to Dean's parents' rural Maryland home, where his mother agrees to help bring him in alive. Before any arrest, Dean shoots Lammark from a distance, shattering the mission. The mother pleads for him to surrender or take his own life.

Dean kills Lammark from inside the house and engages in a tense dialogue with Eleanor, who seems to understand him. He asks to fall asleep and be executed; she agrees, but a sheriff's arrival triggers a chaotic standoff. A larger FBI team surrounds the house as the confrontation escalates.

Eleanor, though restrained, bites Dean's neck, causing significant bleeding and momentarily slowing his advance. A large contingent of officers positions themselves outside, and Dean raises his weapon to the crowd. He ultimately dies by suicide by cop rather than surrender.

Back at FBI headquarters in Baltimore, Eleanor is offered a senior analyst position in exchange for silence about the investigation's malfeasance that cost Lammark his life. She negotiates for a proper recognition of Lammark and a path to being treated as an agent, not just an analyst. She ultimately declines the offer, insisting on her husband’s pension and special agent status.