Just before dawn in Seattle, a man in a car dons dark glasses, leather gloves and loads a 9mm silenced automatic handgun. He drives into town, where he shoots a policeman (Officer Philip Forsell; in the film the character is identified only as Hyatt) on his beat, then drives to a police impound yard and shoots the officer on duty (dialogue identifies him as Wally Johnson); the gunman then drops off the car at a dealership and sneaks away. At a luncheonette, as he washes his hands, he momentarily flashes a police badge owned by Detective Stan Boyle (William Bryant). When a car pulls up, Boyle goes outside and gives the driver a satchel containing the 9mm and proceeds to his own car – but is shot in the back by the unseen driver.