Malloy and Reed are called to the scene of an ambushed of two officers by a pair of black men. One officer is severely injured but tells them he believes he wounded one of the assailants. During a search Reed and Malloy find one of the assailants as he dies from his wounds in an alley. He is a member of a black militant group. At the hospital Reed sees a black friend, Kenneth James, and his family with whom he played football in school. They have to inform him it was his younger brother they found dead and later it is determined his older brother was the accomplice. The militant group accuses the police of murdering the younger James boy and Kenneth believes them even when Reed says it isn't true. When Kenneth confronts his older brother Cleotis, he learns the truth as Malloy and Reed arrest him.