After finishing his words, Rossi turned to Danny and said, "Detective Reagan, I hope the NYPD and FBI will hold a joint press conference to announce to the public as soon as possible that the murderer who has been rampaging on the streets and attacking passersby has been killed on the spot by police."
Danny nodded and turned away, not even bothering to ask the ambulance paramedics to help check him out. After all, he was a seasoned detective; how could he not see that something was amiss?
Today, the streets were filled with patrolling police officers and FBI agents wearing body armor, especially the FBI agents, whose identities were clearly marked by the three conspicuous yellow letters on their body armor.
Yet, the murderer who had evaded police surveillance yesterday, continuing his murders under the surveillance cameras with impunity, today foolishly attacked less than two blocks away and was then shot dead without a trace. No one would believe that there wasn't something fishy going on.
Although the BAU profile hadn't been officially released, Danny had been involved in nearly every aspect of it. It was a multi-person operation, organized, and nearly always carried out within surveillance zones, yet they were able to avoid direct camera coverage. Coupled with the apparent suicide attempt at the hands of the police, some answers were about to emerge.
"They understand the FBI's response to different levels of threat, possess counter-surveillance skills, possess strong organization and hierarchical connections, and can even persuade people to willingly accept death. What does this mean?" In the afternoon, everyone gathered at the Federal Building's Operations Center. Dana Moger and Frank Regan, who had just returned from a press conference, listened to Rossi's analysis with expressions beyond description.
"Terrorists," the Director said coldly.
If Frank Regan considered New York his territory, then terrorists were the greatest threat to that territory. While the damage from 9/11 had long since been rectified, the scars left in people's hearts will never be healed.
"What's their purpose?" Dana Moger turned her gaze to her former lover, Rossi.
Rossi tilted his head slightly, motioning for Red to speak.
"If you consider random street shootings as a bomb attack, the conclusion is clear. The other party is observing and estimating the police's reaction speed, and then they will know when to detonate another bomb.
The goal is to cause panic and gather onlookers, and then wait for an opportunity to attack the second group of emergency responders who arrive."
"It's like the first batch of police officers and rescue workers who rushed into the Twin Towers. No one expected the buildings to suddenly collapse and bury everyone."
Frank said this with a pained look on his face. He was also one of the first police officers who rushed into the scene. Just as he was escorting several civilians out of the scene, the building collapsed behind him, burying all his colleagues.
Reid, as always, remained neutral in his analysis, detached from all emotion. "It sounds crazy, but it's also incredibly clever. Attacking passersby over and over again is a rehearsal.
Even if it weren't for this suicide attack, if we'd caught the killer before this, we'd have simply dismissed it as a serial killer, hiding their true purpose. They've even diligently studied past cases and diligently imitated them."
"So, the terrorist organization we're facing has at least eight operatives, all of them deadly?" Hannah's eyes widened, the situation shifting so rapidly that she was a bit slow to react.
"There are seven left now, but that's a conservative estimate. They're training these operatives through street attacks, ensuring they're willing to kill or commit suicide for their ultimate goal, while also confusing us. It's a double-edged sword," Jiejie replied.
As the first person to discover the problem and bring in the BAU to solve the case, Joyner, despite a minor blunder due to her lack of knowledge of Jack's identity, still holds the greatest credit for the case.
But she didn't seem complacent at all, because a greater threat was imminent, and they had no idea what to do about it.
"It certainly sounds like a brilliant way to plan a terrorist attack, while minimizing the risk of exposure. But the question is, what is their ultimate goal?"
No one could answer Joyner's question, as the New York area offered countless potential targets for terrorist attacks. Taking 9/11 as an example, the direct economic losses, including insurance payouts, casualties, and reconstruction costs, reached hundreds of billions of dollars. The
New York Stock Exchange was shut down for nearly a week, and upon reopening, the stock market plummeted, causing incalculable economic losses.
Manhattan, the heart of New York, is an isolated island, connected to the outside world by a limited number of tunnels and bridges.
The bomb attack Jack encountered on his first day in New York only destroyed an old apartment building, yet Dana Moger, following the emergency plan, immediately ordered the closure of all bridges, tunnels, and train stations citywide.
Imagine a series of bombings, especially if they were followed by IEDs and even suicide bombers targeting emergency response and rescue workers. How long would Manhattan remain shut down?
The thought of this sent a chill down everyone's spine, and beads of sweat formed on their foreheads.
The few people who remained composed at the scene, aside from the usually "good-tempered" Jack, were probably Rossi, Dana Moger, and Frank Reagan. Hotchner remained expressionless, but his grimace spoke volumes.
"Still no information from the DHS (Department of Homeland Security), the NSA (National Security Agency), and the CIA about the domestic terrorist threat?"
Rossi looked at Dana Moger. He had called her shortly after he and Jack finished their analysis, and nearly half a day had already passed.
The latter shook his head. "The CIA's feedback is that, aside from a few key forces under close surveillance, no new organizations of note have emerged recently. The DHS (Department of Homeland Security) and the NSA (National Security Agency) are still fully investigating domestic terrorist organizations."
Jack suddenly thought of a possibility he had previously ruled out. "The NSA previously tracked down the whereabouts of the Durango drug cartel's unidentified funds. Nearly $10 million, enough to launch a large-scale attack. So far, no results?"
This time, it was Jubal who answered. He had been keeping an eye on this information, after all, those guys had nearly blown up the federal building. "I only know that some money flowed into the country, but its ultimate destination is unknown. I'll contact my friends at the NSA right away to see if there's any new developments."
At that moment, there was a sudden commotion behind the operations center. Everyone looked up and saw Garcia had appeared there, surrounded by a few IT department nerds, who were engaged in a heated debate.
"Any new findings, Garcia?" Hotchner asked, frowning.
Garcia stood up from his seat nervously. "Yes, I think we're in trouble. We've rechecked the NYPD's surveillance system and found signs of a hack. Someone has copied all the crime scene footage.
They've been watching everything that happened from the beginning."
"I remember the bureau just spent a special amount of money this year to update the system and upgrade the firewall. They promised me it wouldn't be wasted."
The Chief, no matter how patient he might be, was now a little embarrassed.
Garcia hurriedly explained, "They were very clever. They didn't directly hack into the system. Instead, they used a 'database cracking' method to crack the accounts and passwords of some officers with access rights. Then, they used the Wi-Fi at various NYPD precincts to log into the police system and download the footage.
If we hadn't noticed the abnormal download rate of the footage within the system, we probably wouldn't have discovered it at all."
(End of this chapter)