Kat Was Shot in the Season 23 Premiere of 'Law & Order: Special Victims Unit'

Picking up where the Season 22 finale left off, the Season 23 premiere of Law & Order: Special Victims Unit captures the team's latest attempts to shut down a sex trafficking ring with close ties to politicians like Congressman Howard (Ben Rappaport).

The tension-charged episode plunged several of the main characters into fishy situations, with Olivia Benson (Mariska Hargitay) hurting her ankle during a car accident and Katriona "Kat" Azar Tamin (Jamie Gray Hyder) getting shot. Did Kat make it out alive? Does she die on SVU?

Season 23, Episode 1 poses some grave challenges for almost all of the main characters. Take Liv, who suffers a car accident, and Kat, who nearly loses her life.

In the second part of the Season 23 premiere, Kat heads out to see Rosa. Rosa wants to relocate to Buffalo, New York, and lay low for a while, but Kat convinces her to stick around. But then shortly after, she gets shot twice in an ambush, and for a while, things are looking positively bleak.

Fortunately for fans, Kat doesn't lose her life in the Season 23 premiere. She is taken to the hospital, and she gets through the ghastly incident just fine. It does lead her to look at her job with a fresh pair of eyes, however.

At the hospital, Kat has a heartfelt conversation with Odafin "Fin" Tutuola (Ice-T) about the downsides of the job, such as not being able to prevent people from experiencing trauma. Afterward, Fin warns their co-workers that Kat may have changed her mind about her chosen profession for good.

In a crucial scene, Kat visits Olivia to tell her that she is resigning — and that she won't hear more of it.

"We're not in the same place. I don't have 20 years invested. I gotta get out before I get too deep," she tells her. "I am so happy for the victims' sake that you're here. I just can't stay."

Jamie Gray Hyder made her debut on the Season 21 premiere of SVU, and it didn't long for her to become popular among fans, thanks to her bubbly approach and charismatic personality.

Over the course of the past two years, Jamie's on-screen character, Kat, has participated in numerous investigations, including the case of Romeo Solís, a boxing coach who was taking advantage of his students, and Paul Davies, a defense attorney preying on trans women.

Her departure from the series was first announced in Sept. 2021, per Deadline. In a somewhat unusual move, the creators of the show informed the press that Jamie and her co-star, Demore Barnes, would be departing after the Season 23 premiere.

The news left many fans feeling devastated. While some were eager to find out what role Jamie and Demore would play in the Season 23 premiere, many were disappointed that their journey came to an end.

"Kat better be OK and better be leaving New York with her girlfriend when she is all healed. That is the only way I accept her leaving SVU," tweeted @guerinsmaness.

"I can't believe this is happening. ... C'MON KAT!" wrote @thejakecalderon.