There is a crowd outside the police station chanting, "Conrad must go!" They hold up signs saying, "Kid Killer" and "Murderers belong in jail, not in blue." Three days ago, Police Officer Frederick Conrad reportedly shot and killed a 12-year-old boy in the Bushwick section of Brooklyn.

Police Chief Alan James made a statement to the press regarding the incident. Conrad reported that he thought the boy-who was walking through an alley when he was shot-was pulling a gun on him. Conrad had responded to a call for help after a deli was robbed three blocks away. The shooting took place at 7:30pm, at twilight. Police accounts have not made clear what Conrad was doing in the alley. The boy who was killed, Peter Carns, was shot in the head. The bullet entered above his left ear. No gun was found near the boy's body.

Conrad has been suspended from the force with pay, pending the outcome of a departmental investigation. You have crossed paths with Conrad before. Two years ago, you wrote an article about his involvement in the Bushwick's community's DARE program. He liked the feature you wrote about him. Conrad has been on the force for six years. His record is free of prior disciplinary action, and he has been the recipient of a few police commendations over the past six years.

You haven't been covering the story, but Conrad's lawyer called to say that Conrad will give one interview---to you.