 A former convict recognizes another ex-con, known as the "Iceman," arriving at a Los Angeles apartment building. The former convict drives to a telephone booth at a nearby drive-in and attempts to call the FBI. The Iceman intercepts him and stabs him with an icepick in the chest. The Iceman flees, but the convict survives long enough to get another man to call the Bureau. Dying, the former convict provides the FBI with information about the Iceman. It turns out the killer is part of a gang of bank robbers led by Scott Martin. The gang has already killed two people, used as hostages, in past robberies. Martin, meanwhile, has gotten involved with a single mother and her 10-year-old son. Erskine, who was supposed to be in the Los Angeles FBI office briefly, is charged with organizing a raid on the apartment building where the gang is. Over the next 97 minutes, the 10-year-old boy will be used as a hostage, the mother will enter the apartment building to try to protect her son and the gang will engage in repeated shootouts with Bureau agents. It is an encounter that will lead to the death of some of the participants.