Chapter 37: Internal Audit Inquiry

The video ended quickly, and Robin said, “Aoxi, please briefly recount the events of last night.”

Aoxi began, “Last night I was on night shift. I dealt with several police incidents, then responded to a dispatch center support task, tracking a vehicle that repeatedly ran red lights. The patrol car ran out of gas, so I went to refuel. While queuing at the gas station, I sensed something was wrong. Then three suspects opened fire on three people walking out from the gas station toll booth. After issuing a warning, I fired at the suspects. Following the firefight, all suspects were down, and backup arrived simultaneously. That’s my account.”

Robin nodded. “Who wants to question first?”

Jose from the District Attorney’s office said, “I’ll start. Mr. Aoxi, according to the dashcam footage, the dispatch support task already had five police cars involved. Why did you join in?”

“I had nothing else to do. Chasing keeps me awake. If another assignment came in, I would’ve left immediately.”

Sam burst out laughing, covering his mouth and pretending to cough. “Sorry, go on.”

Jose ignored him and continued, “Why did you pursue the vehicle for an hour, until you ran out of gas?”

“I didn’t expect it to last that long. My colleagues said PIT maneuvers aren’t allowed in Los Angeles residential areas—can’t force a stop, so we just followed the SUV until it stopped voluntarily. I really didn’t expect the guy to keep running. If I’d known, I wouldn’t have followed.”

“Why did you choose to refuel at the Fernandez Street gas station? There were several nearby.”

Aoxi replied honestly, “Chasing the car for so long, I got lost. The GPS said that station was closest, so I went. There’s a record on my phone.”

“How did you notice something was off, and why did you adjust the dashcam’s angle?” Jose asked, feigning casualness.

“It was late. Three Black men weren’t refueling, just parked on the side. One got out, looked around, then went back to the car. Definitely suspicious.” Aoxi’s words were borderline discriminatory, but fortunately everyone present was white.

“I’ve been investigated twice by Internal Affairs, so I have some experience. I thought to adjust the dashcam just in case. If nothing happened, I could reset it.”

Jose continued, “Notably, according to ballistic analysis, five out of six people involved were hit by bullets from your service weapon, indicating precision. All five died. Does this mean you could have wounded them instead, but chose to kill?”

“I only hit them, but I can’t say exactly where. In fact, I didn’t even know how many died at the time. I’ve been with the department less than a month. As for deliberately hitting certain spots—whether others can do it, I don’t know, but I definitely can’t. I heard my patrol car was hit a dozen times—imagine, in that environment, who could manage just to injure? Why don’t you try it yourself?”

Aoxi blatantly lied and pushed back on Jose. If he’d aimed for non-lethal areas like legs, fewer would have died, but he wouldn’t do that. His answer: I’m new, I can’t do it—if you can, go ahead.

Jose didn’t get angry. He scribbled on his paper, “I’m done. Please continue.”

The others asked a couple of inconsequential questions, then stopped. They were cops themselves; not only was Aoxi’s conduct above reproach, it was clearly a sudden incident—the only issue was the high death toll. Gang members dead are dead; nobody cares about them.

Jose knew the two video evidences clearly showed Aoxi had no real problem—his actions were a bit ruthless, but he couldn’t prove deliberate intent to kill. In a firefight, intentionality is nearly impossible to define. No one holds back. Emptying the magazine is standard practice.

He questioned only because Aoxi fired thirteen shots and took down five people—the marksmanship was almost suspiciously good, suggesting intent to kill. But that meant little; gang members’ tactical sense and movement were poor, often running straight into gunfire.

Seeing no further questions, Robin said, “This internal investigation is now concluded. Please organize your materials, sign, and report to headquarters and the DA.”

He turned to Aoxi. “Officer Aoxi, as per regulations, you’ll be placed on administrative leave, estimated for one week. Return to duty unless notified of an extension. During this time, you’ll need to visit the psychological services center for counseling and assessment. Understood?”

“Understood.”

The officers all rose and left the meeting room. Two officers from the Gang Unit and the Narcotics Unit tried to approach Aoxi, but Karles stepped forward, blocked them, and glared. They shrugged and walked away.

Once everyone was gone, Aoxi asked, “Why so many people this time?”

“With five dead—three by your hand, another sent to the hospital by you—how could there be fewer?” Karles replied irritably, then added, “So many deaths, the DA and Internal Affairs had to come. Major Crimes had to come—it’s a big case. The Gang Unit and Narcotics Unit are working the Vietnamese case on Christian Tran. They heard about you, the ‘tough guy,’ and insisted on coming to see what you look like.”

Aoxi nodded. “Any progress on the Vietnamese case?”

“Not so fast. Major Crimes’ surveillance team is watching him around the clock. Any move he makes gets logged. But Major Crimes wants to catch everyone in one sweep, so they’re waiting for him to expose as many connections as possible.”

Aoxi nodded again. Drug dealers are never alone: there’s always a boss, someone handling money, transport, someone growing marijuana or supplying product. Mapping everyone in the network can take months, or even longer.

“By the way, what’s this ‘Romoss 13’ you mentioned earlier?”

“It’s Lomas 13 and Barrett Street. Lomas 13 is a Latin gang active in Monterey Park and Rosemead, mainly involved in human trafficking, drug dealing, serious felony crimes. They’re one of the big gangs in San Gabriel Valley. Barrett Street is a Mexican gang in Rosemead, focusing on arms smuggling, drug dealing, car theft, human trafficking, selling controlled substances. Lomas 13 has obvious expansion ambitions—they’ve pushed into Rosemead and their relationship with Barrett Street is tense. Also, the Sangra gang from San Gabriel is mortal enemies with Lomas 13. Those three gangs have been fighting nonstop for years.”