Malloy and Reed respond to a call about a drug overdose and track the drugs to a 17-year-old who has barricaded himself in his room with a gun and threatens kill himself. They contend with a distraught mother and an overbearing father.

An impressionable Reed is taken in by the "cowboy cop" antics of fellow Officer Ed Wells (Gary Crosby), a wise guy who takes unnecessary and reckless risks to arrest suspects. At the station, Malloy loses his cool while talking to Wells because Wells' tactics endanger his life and others. Wells tries to play it down until his recklessness nearly catches up with him when he is shot in the shoulder by a psychotic sniper, and because of Wells' disobedience and foolishness Reed is also almost shot. Malloy and Reed are forced to rescue Wells and mastermind a way to end the standoff peacefully.