Gunnar Mason, also known as Assistant Director Mason, is the Assistant Director of the San Andreas State Police, and former Chief and Assistant Chief of the Los Santos Police Department.
Biography
Character Background
26-year-old Gunnar Mason grew up in the Los Santos and Fresno areas. Given up for adoption at a young age, Mason sadly spent his life in foster care; he does not know who is parents are and it is unknown if he has any living relatives. In his late teens, he worked at an In-and-Out while going to California State University, Fresno (or Fresno State), where he earned a bachelor's degree in criminology. Before entering the police academy, Mason also worked security for a mall.
Character Development
Mason joined the Blaine County Sheriff's Office on November 2nd, riding along with then-Sergeant Mike Bayo and was quickly promoted to Captain. On November 27th, Gunnar Mason was appointed the Chief of Police for the Los Santos Police Department and therefore left the BCSO. Unfortunately, several months later, on February 4th, city administrators asked Mason to step down as Chief of Police, and then-Assistant Chief Tony Andrews became Chief of Police and Mason was appointed Assistant Chief of Police.
However, city administrators and councilmembers had been reviewing city and county expenditures, and not simply because Mason crashed Air 1 on February 18th, temporarily losing his level 1 air certification. On February 27th, 2018, both BCSO and LSPD found their stations locked, with city councilmembers announcing that the LSPD and BCSO had been defunded. Instead, all former BCSO deputies and LSPD officers would form the new San Andreas State Police, with Tony Andrews as the Director and Mason in the position of Assistant Director (informally, Ass Director or Ass Dic).
On March 3rd, a man calling himself Tony Marcus called 311 looking for Mason, looking into becoming a confidential informant. While in the Director's officer, "Marcus" stabbed Mason and ran, shouting that it was for Boris, indicating that he was sent by Boris Nightly to assassinate Mason. The blade lacerated Mason's kidney and perforated his lower intestines; he was sent to the ICU in critical condition at Pillbox Medical, but made a full recovery.
The Situation
On March 8th, Rusty Dawns, Dash Armstrong, Leroy Campbell, and Boris Nightly escaped prison with the help of a crooked prison guard. After weeks of ominous threatening phone calls to Mason, Boris took Director Andrews hostage and demanded Mason come to Pillbox Bank in exchange for Andrews' life. Boris then held Mason at gunpoint on the roof of the bank and forced him to the ledge. Boris gave Mason an ultimatum: either he pushes Boris off the building or Boris would shoot Mason. Mason, feeling his life was in danger, pushed Boris off the roof, killing him. When Mason came down, the remaining three kidnapped Mason and took him to Paleto where they forced him at gunpoint onto a fuel tanker. In revenge for killing Boris, the three shot the tanker, which exploded with Mason on it. Despite the severity of his burns and other injuries, Mason survived.
After speaking to Zoey Lyrais at the Parson's Clinic about his PTSD from the incident, she recommended a few days of ride-alongs before he fully returned to duty to test his fitness. Mason fully returned to duty several days later without problems. However, his PTSD from the incident continues to haunt him. As is procedure, an investigation has been opened in the death of Boris Nightly.
On April 18th, Rusty Dawns and Leroy Campbell reappeared, with Rusty alerting Mason of his activities with a series of threatening phone calls and anonymous ads reading "#ForBoris". Rusty first stole a tanker truck and blew it up at Mission Row; no troopers were at Mission Row, although Jerry Cahn narrowly avoided being caught in the explosion and Mason had left Mission Row only moments before. After telling Mason in a phone call, "everything that happens tonight is your fault," Rusty immediately opened fire on the Bahama Mama's, critically injuring Trooper Legs MacReady, seriously injuring Senior Trooper Sam Holtz, and injuring then-Trooper Cadet Ayda Clarke. Trooper Clarke later shot Rusty, allowing Captain Dazzler to arrest him, sending him back to jail.
Relationships
Because he was placed for adoption when he was still a toddler, Mason has no known biological family. However, there are many of his fellow troopers that he considers his family. Mason is particularly close to Johnny Dazzler, who is both his best friend and someone that he sees as a brother. Dazzler's father Slappy McGaffey also has unofficially adopted Mason, further cementing their brotherly relationship. Mason is also extremely close to Director Tony Andrews as well as Lieutenant Mike Bayo, and Mason has stated that he considers Torah Andrews to be like a sister to him.
Despite arriving after he died, Mason feels a closeness to Adam Stone, an officer that died in the line of duty during a police operation in Orchardville. Starting with his arrival in Los Santos, each time something important happens in Mason's life, he visits Adam Stone's grave and speaks to him, seemingly paying his respects to the officer that came before him. Mason recalled to Torah that when he was unconscious in the hospital after being stabbed by Campbell, he was visited by Adam, who told him that he was still needed and that it wasn't his time. Because of this, Mason feels a close, inexplicable spiritual connection to Stone.
Before Nightly's death, Mason had an on-going antagonistic relationship with Boris Nightly; it would be appropriate to say that Boris was Mason's arch-nemesis. Mason often visited Nightly in jail and Nightly frequently made threatening and ominous phone calls to Mason, both increasing in frequency in the lead-up to the prison break.
Mason has, for the most part, avoided romantic relationships, stating that he is married to his job. However, this has not stopped him from having flirtatious encounters and friendships with several women.