After shooting a masked youth to stop him from firing his gun into a crowd Starsky is put under heavy pressure -- first at a coroner's inquest -- then by policemen whose lives are threatened by a killer who intends to execute cops until Starsky is removed from the force and destroyed in "Pariah." Running from a holdup, a masked gunman who has ignored police warnings to stop, turns and aims at Starsky. To protect spectators and himself, Starsky is forced to fire a fatal shot at the suspect, later identified as 16-year-old Lonnie Craig. Although testimony by eyewitnesses leaves no doubt that the tragedy was unavoidable, two policemen are executed by a man named Prudholm, who warns police that others will die unless Starsky is properly punished.