Chapter 7
Exchanging Hostages
At the same time.
Zhou Xiaoxiao had already arrived in front of Gate 2’s gold shop and looked over.
About 300 to 500 meters away from the gold shop, hundreds of onlookers were whispering and pointing at the gold shop.
Someone with sharp eyes saw Zhou Xiaoxiao in a police uniform.
“Hey, everyone, look! The police are here!”
“That’s great.”
Zhou Xiaoxiao frowned and walked to the front of the crowd. She waved her hand and said, “Does anyone know what’s going on in the gold shop?”
“It’s too dangerous here. Don’t gather here!”
People obviously thought that a distance of three to five hundred meters was safe. Even if the robber rushed out, they would have enough distance to escape.
They did not take Zhou Xiaoxiao’s shooing of everyone seriously.
Zhou Xiaoxiao shook her head helplessly. Wherever she went, there would always be people who liked to watch the show.
To put it simply, this was the first time she had encountered an armed robber in a gold shop.
A few middle-aged aunties walked out of the crowd and pointed at the gold shop. “Officer, we were just about to go for a walk when we saw that the situation was not right. We took advantage of the chaos and ran out. I know a little about the situation.”
“Officer, my husband is still inside. Please go in and arrest the criminal!” A woman who looked like a rich lady stepped forward and grabbed Zhou Xiaoxiao as she begged.
“Officer…”
Immediately, Zhou Xiaoxiao was surrounded by some people who had escaped from the gold shop.
Everyone was talking at once, but Zhou Xiaoxiao did not understand a single word. She waved her hands and said loudly, “Everyone, come one by one. I need to understand the situation in the gold shop now.”
After Zhou Xiaoxiao’s persuasion, everyone calmed down rationally.
Zhou Xiaoxiao finally knew what was going on in the gold shop.
It was extremely dangerous!
After sorting out the information provided by the people, Zhou Xiaoxiao estimated that there were at least ten ordinary people in the gold shop.
“The robber was a strong man. His face couldn’t be seen clearly because he was wearing a hood. He held a 911 pistol and had already fired a shot when he was intimidating the security guards…”
“The security guard was shot in the right chest. I don’t know if he’s dead or alive.”
A wounded person had appeared!
Zhou Xiaoxiao rationally analyzed the current situation and deduced according to the criminal psychology she had learned in the police academy.
It was very likely that this was a vicious criminal. He did not choose to fire his empty gun to intimidate the crowd.
Instead, he chose to injure the security personnel.
It was enough to show that the other party did not leave any way out for himself. From the moment he hurt someone, he had already prepared for the worst.
Zhou Xiaoxiao’s forehead was covered in cold sweat. She had no experience in dealing with such a situation.
This was completely different from the situation in textbooks, theories, and acting.
It seemed that communication with the other party and persuading them to surrender had been cut off.
Zhou Xiaoxiao quickly told the walkie-talkie what she knew.
After a short silence on the walkie-talkie, the man’s voice changed to a familiar one.
Bureau Chief Zhang Zhenghuai said solemnly, “Zhou Xiaoxiao, I’ve roughly understood the situation. Stay where you are and distance the crowd to avoid greater casualties. The robber can’t escape!”
“Understood!” Zhou Xiaoxiao naturally knew that in this era, robbing a gold shop was as stupid as one could get. There was no possibility of escape at all. As long as all the major roads were controlled, the robber would not be able to escape.
However, although they were not worried that the robber would escape, they were worried that he would lose control of his emotions in an emergency and shoot a large number of hostages!
This was the most difficult problem at the moment!
Zhou Xiaoxiao reported again, “Chief, it’s unknown if the injured is dead or alive. Should we go and confirm the condition of the injured…”
Chief Zhang pondered for a moment and realized Zhou Xiaoxiao’s worry. He was not worried at all about whether he could catch the robber because there was no possibility of the robber escaping. After all, this was not the last century.
A moment later, Chief Zhang asked, “According to eyewitnesses, was the injured person’s chest injured?”
Zhou Xiaoxiao said in a low voice, “Yes, his chest. If his lungs are pierced, I’m afraid he won’t be able to last long. If he’s not treated in time, he won’t be able to last until our reinforcements arrive!”
When Zhou Xiaoxiao said that, Chief Zhang fell silent on the walkie-talkie.
In such a serious situation, time became the most troublesome problem.
“Zhou Xiaoxiao, don’t move. Support police are rushing over.
Pay attention to the robber’s movements at all times. He will definitely be thinking of escape routes.
The support police would form an encirclement in the shortest time possible and do the job of evacuating the crowd. If necessary, they could let him leave!
It is a downtown area, we have to prevent the robber from hurting the crowd while escaping.
Don’t anger him at all. You just need to follow him in secret and report the robber’s movements.”
Zhou Xiaoxiao immediately agreed, and the light in her eyes became more and more determined.
Chief Zhang took a deep breath.
“I reckon that the robber will take hostages just to be safe.
While ensuring the safety of the hostages, they could just wait for police reinforcements to arrive.
“At that time, our SWAT colleagues will occupy the advantageous vantage point and snipe if necessary!”
“Yes!”
Zhou Xiaoxiao naturally knew that this decision would increase the variables in the situation.
However, this was also the only way to protect the hostages to the greatest extent.
…
On the other side, in Yida Square.
Zhou Xiaoxiao glanced at the crowd behind her. After saying this, she quickly walked towards the gold shop and went against the crowd.
“Don’t worry, the Hibiscus City police will definitely protect your family!”
Zhou Xiaoxiao comforted the people and hurriedly evacuated them.
However, at this moment, the door of the gold shop was pushed open from the inside.
Then, a robber wearing a balaclava ran out in a hurry with a big bag on his back and a gun in his hand.
“Ah!”
Seeing the robber appear, the crowd, who had just calmed down, erupted into another commotion.
Zhou Xiaoxiao quickly hid in the crowd. She did not want to have any conflict with the robber here in case the innocent people were implicated.
In any case, he would not be able to escape, so the first problem was to protect the crowd.
The robber didn’t have time to look around. After leaving the gold shop, he quickly ran towards the route that he had planned beforehand.
Zhou Xiaoxiao had also finished evacuating the crowd. Moreover, the robber had already escaped. She hurriedly chased after him. While maintaining a distance, she kept telling the people around her to leave quickly.
After chasing the robber through a few small paths, the number of people around them decreased. Clearly, this was the escape route he had devised. It was the best way to hide and escape from being tracked.
Zhou Xiaoxiao followed closely behind, but she did not dare to let her guard down.
Finally, the crowd was almost gone, and the robber were about to escape.
Zhou Xiaoxiao knew that she could not wait any longer. Otherwise, she would not be able to track him down. At that time, it was very likely that he would hide completely. At that time, if she mobilized the entire city’s police force to search for him, the consequences would be even more serious.
Immediately, she shouted and picked up a stone to throw at him. She had the upper hand!
“Don’t move! Police!”
Suddenly hearing a sound behind him, the robber was shocked. He suddenly turned around and saw a huge rock coming at him. He hurriedly dodged, but he was still injured.
Although the robber’s expression could not be seen through the hood, it must have been very colorful.
He did not expect that despite his plan being so thorough and having been on the lookout for more than a month and had even used methods to destroy the surveillance cameras along the way and on the way to escape, the police still rushed over at the first moment, disrupting his plan.
For a moment, he raised his pistol vigilantly and scolded Zhou Xiaoxiao, “Don’t come over! If you come any closer, I’ll shoot!”
Zhou Xiaoxiao looked at the black muzzle. Although she was nervous, she did not waver.
She aimed her gun at the robber and thought that no matter what, she had to restrain the robber and wait for reinforcements to arrive.
However, at this moment, something that Zhou Xiaoxiao had not expected happened.
Initially, she thought that no one would appear on this path, but a child’s head popped out of a luxury car beside the robber.
Zhou Xiaoxiao immediately panicked. How could she have expected a child to be in the car?
It was probably because the adults had gone to do something and left the child alone in the car.
But this was too much!
As expected, the robber also discovered him. He immediately broke the glass and pulled the child out.
“Wahh!”
Instantly, the child burst into tears.
Because the robber had been aiming his gun at the half-grown child, Zhou Xiaoxiao could not find any chance to attack.
With hostages, the robber quickly became arrogant.
He picked up the child in front of him and shot at Zhou Xiaoxiao fiercely…