Who Was Shot in ‘NCIS’ Cliffhanger? 4 Theories for Season 24

Well, the good news is that it doesn’t sound like NCIS fans are going to have to say goodbye to another series regular or watch one mourn the death of his son after the Season 23 finale cliffhanger. However, the fallout of that shooting should make for dramatic TV.

Earlier in Season 23, McGee (Sean Murray) learned of his teenage son from a previous relationship. Since then, he and Mateo (Patrick Keleher) have been getting to know one another. As part of that, Mateo toured NCIS and expressed his interest in a cyber internship in the finale. However, he then seemed to decide it wasn’t for him. But then Palmer (Brian Dietzen) told Torres (Wilmer Valderrama) that the teen used a workstation to fill out an application … which the agent couldn’t find in the system.

Torres confronted Mateo, who tried to get him to drop it and revealed he was armed. “They could be watching,” Mateo said. The finale ended on a wide shot of the city and the sound of a gunshot. We didn’t see who fired or who was shot, nor did we get any hints about who “they” referred to.

Executive producer Steven D. Binder confirmed to TV Insider after the finale that “someone was hit” but ruled out someone died. “There’s not a lot of fun there,” he explained. “When someone’s dead, they’re dead. It’s much more interesting — I’ll think back to when Gibbs [Mark Harmon] shot McGee. It’s much more fun when someone’s alive and been shot than when they’re dead. And by fun, I mean, interesting.”

Robert Voets/CBS

In this case, that very much includes McGee’s reaction to what’s going on with his son and teammate both involved. “He’s going to be all kinds of conflicted,” Binder said, torn between being a law enforcement officer and a father.

But first there’s the matter of who was shot and who fired the gun. Below, we take a look at four possible ways that NCIS could resolve that cliffhanger.

Mateo shot Torres on NCIS

Imagine how torn McGee would feel about his son shooting the field agent he’s been working alongside the longest from the current team. Mateo’s clearly hiding something, and it feels like he’d be more likely to pull the trigger on Torres than the man would be to shoot an 18-year-old. He could easily have shot Torres in the shoulder, leg, or somewhere else non-fatal and fled, leading to a question of what happened to the agent when he’s found and who else was with him for the team, especially McGee, to tackle when Season 24 begins.

Torres shot Mateo

Again, it’s hard to imagine Torres being the first to pull the trigger but he could have avoided Mateo’s shot (or Mateo missed) then fired back (non-fatally). Torres would then have to inform McGee of what happened — you know he wouldn’t leave the scene — and that would be such a good moment.

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Someone else shot Torres and/or Mateo

Mateo did say “they could be watching,” and he could have very well been right. Someone else could have fired into that alley and hit either Torres or Mateo — or both! After all, for all we know, there’s a second shot that we just haven’t heard yet.

If that’s the case, it’s also possible that one or both of them could have been taken. If Torres was left behind, he could have clues about what happened and who’s involved. If Mateo was, there’s a question of how much he’d be willing to share up front and how much will have to be uncovered by the team first. If both were taken, Season 24 could easily start with a question of where Torres and/or Mateo are, especially since no one would necessarily think they could be together.

Torres or Mateo shot someone else

What if someone was watching and that person came up behind Torres or Mateo? The other could have shot that person to stop them from making a move. Can’t you imagine Season 24 starting with either Torres or Mateo facing questions about shooting someone, only for it to be revealed it’s a bad guy down in the morgue, not the other person?

What’s your theory after that finale cliffhanger with Torres and Mateo? Let us know in the comments section below.

NCIS, Season 24, Fall 2026, Tuesdays, 8/7c, CBS

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