And then, as if things weren't surreal enough today, a sequence of photos amazes, then shocks and saddens me.

Details from G:

Both Mister and I had unsettled sleep last night, me as usual, him as usual, I said, after a neighborhood shooting. Mister and I were in the back yard, chatting at the grill, The Girl inside with a cat or 2, when we heard gunfire, close, more than 1 gun, at least 2, and I stopped internally counting at 12 shots. We crouched down, for fuck’s sake. Then ran inside. The Girl asked if that noise had been fireworks and I said, No, gunfire, yes. We looked out the window and saw two young men running away. Both had guns. They weren’t running scared. They were loping, relaxed, loose-limbed.

The police finally came, one SUV driving all through The Crime Scene. While one cop got pissed-indignant about the crime scene with people and fellow officers, I just hoped Mister, out there in a bright yellow shirt with a camera and a smart-ass mouth with authorities didn’t cross that path. He did. It came out okay. In some instances, being a white man is barely enough.

It was chilling. Senseless. Demoralizingly sad.

I yelled at a cop that I’d seen two guys running. He asked if I thought they’d done it. I said, I saw them running with guns, that’s all I know.

If having a better functioning justice system ain't an argument for more transparency and accountability in the workings of City Hall, I don't know what is. All I know is those guys should not have been that supremely confident that they'd get away with murder... and neither should anybody else who has intentionally caused another's violent death in the past four years here.