Hughes: "There has been a trash can explosion in Newark, and according to the on-site explosives detection, the composition matches the one from the case you handled previously."

Jimmy drew in a sharp breath. No way, that case had already been closed, except for the mastermind who escaped, everyone involved was either dead or arrested, there shouldn't have been any oversights. Especially the bomb maker El, who had been thrown into jail just a few months ago, it wasn't possible for him to be out already.

Jimmy: "Understood, I will head back once things are resolved here."

Jimmy hung up and looked towards the teaching building. Their position was at the side of the teaching building, other officers were already positioned at various angles around it, ensuring that the robber wouldn't escape.

The teaching building had been evacuated. Within Heart Eye's range, he could see about a dozen police officers scattered throughout the first and second floors, congregating only in one room.

This was a high school, and though many of these high school students were quite tall, there was only one person standing in the room now, with the others crouching in the corners. This must be the robber.

Jimmy looked towards Lieutenant Hoffman, "Sorry, I got a call from the station. Where were we just now?"

Lieutenant Hoffman: "No problem, we can handle this case here. If you have other matters, you can leave first."

Jimmy shook his head: "It's okay, I'll wait a bit."

After a while, the armored vehicle of the ESU (NYPD Emergency Services Unit, similar to SWAT) had taken position. A fully armed team of six disembarked and went straight to Lieutenant Hoffman, while Jimmy stepped back to give them space.

Lieutenant Hoffman was the highest-ranking police official on the scene, and the ESU was also under his command.

There wasn't much to say about their arrangement; the biggest problem now was the students being held hostage. The police negotiator also arrived, donning a bullet-proof vest, and was escorted by the ESU into the teaching building. Jimmy had no command authority at the moment and could only listen in at the temporary command center to the communication between the negotiator and the robber, which bore no results and was cut short by gunfire after just a few exchanges.

The shot was fired by the robber, of course, he didn't hit anyone, just a warning not to come any closer, indicating he had no interest in negotiating.

Jimmy found it odd, this person hadn't entered the school to carry out a campus shooting; it was only after being chased by NYPD patrol officers that he rushed into the school. He must be aware of the situation by now, completely surrounded by police. Although he had students as hostages, there was no way to escape. No matter how he thought about it, he shouldn't have refused the police negotiator.

After some time, the lead FBI agents finally arrived, from the Brooklyn-Queens field office. Normally, an incident happening in Brooklyn would definitely bring them to the scene first, but the Manhattan team had arrived earlier, and they were quite delayed.

The field office agent came into the temporary command center and immediately greeted Jimmy with a smile. It was another person who knew Jimmy, and Jimmy also found him familiar, probably a subordinate or acquaintance of Agent Ryan Phillips from the field office.

After a brief discussion about the situation on the scene, Jimmy continued to be a bystander, and the field office agent left the command center. Shortly after, Ryan came in from outside to greet Jimmy, and they both stepped out of the command center to a vacant area nearby.

Ryan: "Jimmy, it's you handling this again?"

Jimmy smiled and shook hands with Ryan, the two were old acquaintances and had worked together a few times before, "Yeah, the Support Team goes wherever there's an issue. How have you been lately?"

With the ESU at the forefront, Jimmy was presently quite relaxed. Ryan gestured towards the teaching building, "Are you planning to…"

Jimmy shook his head: "No need, the ESU has gone in, let's wait for their report."

Ryan nodded, "How have you been lately? I heard you were thinking of switching jobs."

Jimmy was at a loss for words, amazed at the resilience of that rumor. He had gone to teach at the academy and now even the field office was spreading rumors that he was changing jobs.

Jimmy: "Not at all, I was just invited back to the academy to serve as an instructor. I've only recently returned."

The two casually chatted for a while, but their conversation was interrupted by gunfire. Several shots from a handgun rang out from the teaching building, followed by the sound of rifle fire. Jimmy and Ryan hurried back to the temporary command center. Minutes later, a group of students ran out of the teaching building, followed by NYPD officers, and then the ESU team, one of whom seemed to have been shot, was helped out of the building by two others. The paramedics, who had already arrived at the scene, took over and rushed him to the ambulance for emergency treatment.

"The perpetrator has been shot dead, one student was shot in the leg and is receiving emergency treatment, the paramedics can go up now," someone from the ESU came over and reported before returning to the ESU armored vehicle.

Ryan and Jimmy, seeing that the situation was resolved, said their goodbyes and left.

It wasn't often that Jimmy was a mere bystander during a case. However, such instances were normal, the NYPD wasn't that weak, and the ESU had handled such situations before. The ESU was called out thousands of times a year, had seen many kinds of incidents, and handled many as well.

Jimmy returned to the FBI office and went to Hughes's office. In the adjacent conference room, he saw a familiar face, Agent Riley Butler from the Newark office. It was he who had supported Jimmy during the last explosion case.

Jimmy shook hands with Agent Riley Butler: "Agent Butler, long time no see."

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