At 22:14 hours, John Benkovich and Officer Elena Martinez receive a 911 call reporting a body lying near the bus stop on Wilshire Boulevard near Fairfax. Arriving within minutes to a rain-slicked street, they find a middle-aged man, later identified as freelance photographer Derek Sloan, unresponsive with a gunshot wound to the chest. John radios for EMS and secures the scene while Elena canvasses for witnesses.

CSI Patel arrives swiftly, collecting ballistic evidence and photographing the scene. Officer Lopez interviews a shaken bus driver who recalls seeing a man in a gray hoodie fleeing the scene on foot shortly after a loud bang. Nearby surveillance footage from a storefront security camera is urgently requested by Detective Rivera.

At the station, an autopsy by Dr. Chen reveals a single entry wound—close-range—and no signs of defensive injuries. Enhanced footage shows the suspect discarding a handgun near a dumpster down the street. Fingerprints lifted from the weapon trace back to local felon Terrence