Classification and Transfer

The sound of sirens grew louder as they approached, breaking the lingering afternoon tranquility of the street. The first to arrive were patrol officers from the nearby police station, whose brightly painted police car screeched to a halt in front of "Old Chen's Homestyle Cooking."

Two young police officers got out of the car, still discussing the "gang fight" report from the command center. They thought it was nothing more than drunken brawls or a quarrel between young people, and that they could just handle it according to procedure.

However, when one of them reached out and pushed open the crooked, shattered glass door, the sight that greeted them froze them instantly at the doorway. The relaxed expressions on their faces vanished, replaced by a grimace.

Inside, the stark white lighting illuminated a scene of utter devastation, as if a mini-typhoon had swept through. Tables and chairs lay overturned, broken dishes, food scraps, and smears of congealed and undried blood mingled on the greasy floor and walls. The air was thick with the pungent stench of blood, alcohol, and the deathly stillness that followed violence.

What's even more chilling is people.

Seven or eight slovenly-looking men lay sprawled on the ground in various contorted positions, like dismantled dolls. Some were curled up, emitting weak groans, while others remained motionless, only the slight rise and fall of their chests indicating they were still alive. They all bore injuries, their heads, faces, and bodies stained with blood, and almost every face was etched with pain and fear. Shiny baseball bats, machetes, and steel pipes lay scattered around like trash.

Surrounding the group of people who had fallen to the ground were all sorts of "ordinary people" who seemed out of place in the scene.

There were office workers dressed in shirts and trousers, looking like they had just finished get off work; workers dressed simply and with weathered faces; middle-aged women holding children and with pale faces; and even two cooks wearing aprons stained with oil... Most of them stood silently or leaned against the wall. Some of them had abrasions or bruises, but their overall demeanor was like that of the victorious side guarding prisoners.

The scene was so bizarre and horrific that it completely exceeded the scope of ordinary public security cases.

"I... I swear..." the younger policeman muttered unconsciously, his Adam's apple bobbing as he felt a churning in his stomach.

The lead officer, an older man surnamed Wang, was more experienced, but his face was as black as the bottom of a pot. He gasped, feeling a sudden ache in his teeth. This wasn't just a group fight; it was clearly a vicious case bordering on a small-scale brawl! And the composition of the participants was just too damn strange!

"Don't move! Police!" Officer Wang shouted sternly, forcing himself to remain calm, while his right hand instinctively went to the police equipment at his waist. He and his colleagues quickly entered the store, carefully avoiding the bloodstains and wounded people on the ground, their sharp eyes scanning every person standing there.

"Officers, you've finally arrived!" A young man who looked like a shop assistant greeted them with a mournful face. "These people suddenly rushed in and started smashing things..."

"We called the police!" A middle-aged man wearing gold-rimmed Glasses and a suit (Lawyer Zhou) stepped forward, his tone calm. "The situation is like this..."

"Don't speak yet!" Officer Wang interrupted him. The situation at the scene was unclear, and there were many injured people. The primary task was to control the situation and rescue the injured. While signaling his colleagues to maintain order and have everyone present stand apart and not communicate, he quickly went outside the store and urgently reported to his superiors via walkie-talkie, requesting a large number of reinforcements and immediately notifying the 120 emergency center.

In less than ten minutes, the piercing sirens of police cars and ambulances filled the neighborhood. Several police cars and three or four ambulances arrived one after another, completely blocking the already narrow street. The flashing blue and red police lights cast an unsettling glow on the walls of the surrounding buildings, attracting a growing crowd of onlookers from a distance.

Medical personnel, well-trained, rushed into the store carrying stretchers and began preliminary examinations and transport of the injured on the ground. The thugs were carried one by one into the ambulances, most of them disoriented, and those who were conscious only let out meaningless groans when they saw the police. Bloodstains were dragged everywhere by footprints, adding to the horrifying scene.

At the same time, a large number of police reinforcements arrived and began to completely cordon off the scene, setting up a perimeter. All the people who were in the store at the time, including the protagonist Lin Feng, Lawyer Zhou, Lü Yi, as well as all the assassins who participated in the attack and a few diners who were genuinely frightened, were required to cooperate with the investigation and were taken to the police station in different police cars.

Inside the interrogation room of the branch office, the lights were equally glaringly white. The police officers began to question everyone they had brought in separately and take statements.

The questioning process was not too difficult. Whether it was Lawyer Zhou's clear and logical statements, Lü Yi's somewhat erratic yet clearly targeted descriptions, or the conflicting but consistent testimonies of the "helpful citizens," the sequence of events was clearly outlined.

The fraud gang, harboring resentment from a previous failed extortion attempt, gathered several people and went to the store armed for revenge. Those present, acting in self-defense and out of a sense of justice, worked together to subdue the thugs. The store's security camera footage (although from a limited angle) partially confirmed that the thugs had attacked first with weapons.

The case seemed clear, with a strong inclination towards self-defense. The local police officers in charge of the interrogation mostly leaned towards this view as well, and even vaguely felt that the gang of thugs who bullied the market deserved to be beaten so badly.

However, a message from the hospital instantly complicated and made the nature of the case more difficult to handle.

Preliminary injury assessment results show that among the eight thugs sent to the hospital, four of them sustained injuries that, according to the "Standards for the Assessment of the Degree of Bodily Injury," have been preliminarily determined to have reached the level of minor injury, grade two!

Many people, upon hearing the term "minor injury," might think it refers to mere superficial wounds that are insignificant. However, in a legal sense, especially in criminal cases, "minor injury level two" is a completely different concept.

For example:

Skull fracture.

Penetrating eyeball injury or ruptured eyeball (no need to remove the eyeball).

Fractures of long bones in the limbs.

The cumulative loss of hand function has reached four percent of the function of one hand.

Four or more teeth have been lost or fractured.

Meeting this standard means that the case meets the criteria for filing a case of intentional injury.

"Damn it, this is troublesome..." Captain Liu, who had extensive experience in handling cases, rubbed his throbbing temples, looking at the preliminary summary of materials and the hospital's feedback, his brows furrowed into a knot. On one side was a vicious criminal with weapons, and on the other side was a citizen who "intervened in a righteous act." As a result, the "righteous act" went too far, directly causing the other party to meet the injury standards for a criminal case.

This puts us in an awkward position. Should we treat it entirely as self-defense? Several of the other side suffered minor injuries, which is extremely sensitive in judicial practice. It's easy for the other side to retaliate, and it could even spark public debate about "excessive self-defense." If we don't treat it as self-defense and hold the "helpful citizens" accountable? That's unreasonable and disheartening, especially since the other side was armed and provoked us first.

The grassroots police officers handling the case were extremely troubled by this, feeling as if they were holding a hot potato. All they could do was strictly follow procedures, repeatedly verify the statements of everyone at the scene to ensure that the details were accurate, properly seal the copied surveillance video, and register, photograph, and preserve the sticks, bottles, and other items involved as physical evidence. All the case files were made exceptionally thick, for fear of leaving any flaws.

Due to the unusual nature of the case, it was quickly reported to the branch office level, alarming the deputy director in charge of criminal investigation.

The deputy director's office was filled with smoke. He listened to Captain Liu's detailed report, flipping through the thick preliminary case file and the hospital's injury report, remaining silent for a long time. The cigarette between his fingers burned down to a long ash; finally, he gently flicked the ash into the ashtray, raised his eyelids, and made his decision.

"Old Liu," the deputy director said in a steady voice, with the caution of someone who had been in officialdom for a long time, "This case is rather complicated. It involves multiple people armed, the injury assessment has reached the standard for criminal prosecution, and... the party that 'acted in good faith' did indeed... well, quite effectively."

He paused, looked at Captain Liu, and said meaningfully, "I think this case has exceeded the scope of our branch's routine handling authority. Here's what you should do: compile all the preliminary work you have—confessions, surveillance footage, physical evidence, injury reports—into a complete file. Then, transfer it directly to the Municipal Public Security Bureau's Criminal Investigation Detachment for processing."

Captain Liu was taken aback at first, then suddenly realized, and couldn't help but secretly admire, "Brilliant! Absolutely brilliant! Otherwise, how could he be wearing a white shirt (a rank of police superintendent or higher)!"

This "Tai Chi push" move was executed brilliantly. Transferring the case to the Municipal Criminal Investigation Team not only avoided the public pressure and judgment risks that the branch office might have brought about by directly handling such a sensitive case, but it was also completely in accordance with procedure—involving multiple minor injuries, it was already within the jurisdiction of the Criminal Investigation Team.

As for whether the criminal investigation team, after taking over the case, will determine it as legitimate self-defense and not file a case, or get bogged down in whether the self-defense was excessive, then the pressure and decision-making power will shift to the higher-ups. The branch office only needs to do its basic work thoroughly, and no one can find fault with it.

"Understood, Director! We'll prepare the materials immediately and hand them over as soon as possible!" Captain Liu understood and readily agreed.