‘Shots Fired’ May Be The Most Relevant Television Show Right Now; Looks Into America’s Justice System

"Shots Fired" is a drama which explores the racial issues in America. Show runners revealed truths surrounding the Fox series.

"Shots Fired's" first episode started in a small town in North Carolina where a black police officer kills a white college student. During the course of the investigation, a murder of a black teen in the past was brought back to the open.

Joshua Beck (Mack Wilds) shoots an unarmed college student during a traffic stop. The police officer profiled that the white man in a black neighborhood was there to buy drugs according to a review by The New York Times. The Department of Justice then sends two investigators, Ashe Akino (Sanaa Lathan) and Preston Terry (Stephan James) who are both African-American. The duo soon finds out that another young black man was shot a police, but his death was kept in secret.

Husband and wife, Reggie Bythewood and Gina Prince-Bythewood, are the creators and writers of "Shots Fired." According to Mashable, the television show aims to explore the racial concerns in every angle in America's justice system.

During the Television Critics Association press tour, Bythewood said that they wanted to do "Shots Fired" in a small southern town. "During our research, we looked at Ferguson, and we didn't want to set in Ferguson, but, in many ways... we wanted to do an autopsy of a town like Ferguson," he explained.

The opening scenario of "Shots Fired," black cop killing a white student, is intentional to challenge audience's preconceptions according to Prince-Bythewood. "It's very easy for people to watch the news and see a piece about a shooting, and if you don't identify with who's on the screen, you turn it off," she said. Prince-Bythewood said that "Shots Fired" will allow folks who do not normally identify with the characters to empathize and bring change in their lives.