Rookie Blue Episode 3.03 A Good Shoot

POLICE LOG: Tensions are high at an annual streetball tournament when word gets out that Officer Dov Epstein shot a supposedly unarmed kid from the neighborhood. Detailed report follows:

Dov Epstein is living the dream. He has a great job, great pals and a beautiful girlfriend. The only thing that could possibly make his life better is licorice. He stops by a corner market to snag a sweet treat, but walks in on a robbery in progress. Dov draws his gun when a young kid in a hoodie ducks behind the counter. He calls for backup. Chris races toward the scene pulling the store clerk out of harm's way. The kid pops up pointing something at Dov. BANG! BANG! Dov shoots. The suspect goes down. Blood pours onto the floor.

Paramedics work to save the kid. Dov claims the suspect had a gun, but no weapon is found in the store. The clerk is no help, as he claims to have seen a white cop gun down a black kid in cold blood. Dov quickly realizes that internal police investigators are wondering if this was a racially-motivated shooting. Things get worse when the kid who was shot dies in surgery.

The officers of 15 are warned that there may be trouble at an upcoming streetball tournament. Noelle is tired of sitting in the station. She lets Frank know that she's pregnant, not made of glass. She switches with Traci to hit the streets to help keep the peace at the hoops tourney. As for Frank, he meets with an old acquaintance from the neighborhood named Roland. The guy just got out on parole. He's wondering if the kid who was just shot in his neighborhood was, indeed, killed by a cop.

As Frank gives the order to disperse the crowd at the streetball tournament, Roland clocks him in the face. Noelle is pushed to the ground during the scuffle. Roland's friends back down once the rest of the police officers go on the offensive. As for Roland, he insists that he helped Frank out today. He wants to be cut a little slack. Frank may just oblige that request.

Andy suspects that the store clerk had a gun hidden behind the counter. The guy may be lying because having a weapon would violate his parole. Traci, who has been gunning to get on a detective rotation, tries something she learned in one of her many night classes. She helps Dov relive the shooting. This leads to the theory that her friend may not have been the only one who fired a gun. Andy finds a slug in the wall behind where Dov was standing. This helps, but they still need the gun that fired the bullet.

Traci realizes that Dov couldn't see anything behind the counter from where he was standing. That's why he would have no idea if there was more than one person back there. The theory is that a second person was involved in the robbery. This additional suspect could have snuck out the back door with the gun. Andy and Sam track down the dead kid's friend. He's carrying a gun that matches with the slug found at the store. Jerry lets Dov know that he's off the hook. This was a clean shoot.

In random news, Traci learns that she got the detective rotation gig. Gail lures Nick into her car to lay down ground rules for their relationship. Sam lets Andy know that without her faith in a friend, Dov may have not been cleared. Noelle lets Frank know that she was scared for the baby during the ruckus on the street. That's why she'll do desk duty from here on out. As for Dov, he stops at the vigil taking place for the kid he shot. Then heads home after a long day on the job he loves.