Blowback

Officer Eric Russell becomes the spotlight of mass controversy when, while he, Jamie and Edie are attempting to apprehend a group of thieves, he shoots a teen offender named Diego Perez, who refused to surrender and advanced on him, hands up, with a knife. Although Russel's self-defense statement is backed by eyewitness testimony and his body camera, mass public sentiment against the NYPD spawns from his grand jury acquittal. Making matters worse, Mayor Poole criticizes the police with plans for a personal investigation, and the body camera footage is somehow leaked to the public. Immediately afterward, Russel's partner Officer Mark Hayes is shot in what looks like payback. Danny and Baez, going through little evidence because no witnesses want to talk to them, come to believe the perpetrator is Miguel Santana, a criminal with a lengthy history; however, the detectives have little solid evidence that proves he shot Hayes. Luckily, when they learn that a nearby pedestrian named Gabby Castillo saw Santana shoot Hayes, they coerce her to tell the truth. Erin is appalled when Frank asks her to determine if the leak came from the mayor's office, and refuses. She does, however, identify the whistle blower as her assistant in the D.A.'s office (who felt that Russel's acquittal was wrong, despite the proof to the contrary), and has her promptly removed from her position. Frank later visits Poole to apologize for thinking he was behind the leak, only to learn that the Mayor plans on resigning because of personal guilt over what happened to Hayes. Frank instead manages to turn him away from this just before the mayor goes to television to publicly apologize to the city.