When high school students thwart a shooting and take hostages, a disgraced crisis negotiator must bargain against his own police before public outrage forces an armed assault

SYNOPSIS:

Crime/Thriller - A broken crisis negotiator defies his own police force to protect high school students holding peer shooters hostage during a politically charged siege over gun control.

Lieutenant Preston Maynard has had it with thoughts and prayers. Turning to substance abuse after his failure to deescalate the last school shooting, the negotiator is useless for the new nightmare unfolding at nearby Rustica Falls High. Fortunately, the students prepared in advance with a secret response plan. They capture the attackers and barricade the school to demand lawmakers pass strict gun control legislation. Failure to do so, they contend, will result in the live stream execution of each shooter.

However, the plan goes sideways when a gunman dies in the initial attack and a guidance counselor escapes, arms himself, and accidentally shoots a student. Once the situation stabilizes, Maynard, who has been in contact with the stronghold, is blamed and dismissed. Although the students request him back, Maynard is already at a bar in a confrontation with an aggrieved father who lost his son in the first shooting. Between this encounter and the chief’s decision to combat the massive influx of armed citizens and terrified parents surrounding the scene with riot control, Maynard realizes the standoff presents his only chance for redemption. He overcomes his circumstances and gains access by gleefully driving a stolen ambulance into the main entrance barricade.

Despite the chief’s fury, Maynard convinces him to delay breaching until the state senate votes. The bill passes, but when the governor vows to veto it just as time runs out, the students stage a mock execution using the already deceased shooter. This triggers the tactical strike while the death of a rooftop student by sniper fire starts a riot. Thinking fast, Maynard exits the school and commandeers an armored vehicle outfitted with an LRAD (Long Range Acoustic Device). The LRAD’s excruciating sonic capabilities subdue the crowd and prime the successful student evacuation. As Maynard finally leaves the scene, he considers applying for the guidance counselor’s position.

In the end, it’s revealed that teachers originally prepared the students for an active shooter situation with clear backpacks, armor-plated binders, and buckets of rocks—their first indication that sometimes those charged with protecting you are those from whom you need protection.