My entry about the shooting fell somewhere between the 'compassionates' and the guy who is being called 'harsh', Dunshee. I merged the shooting with the dilemma of the downtown department store. That probably means I wasn't compassionate enough.

In my opinion, the degree of force the gunman used will be the issue, not that he used force per se. Despite the aggressive behavior by the decedent, the accused likely could have escaped without killing him. It would have been reasonable to use some force, but not so much force. I suspect the murder charge will be reduced because the gunman was provoked.

Additonal mental health funding? I'm for it. But, it should be applied to preventive care, before people are living on the streets. The hardcore homeless are damn near impossible to do anything with. I began covering the homeless as a reporter a decade and a half ago. What strikes me most now is the intransigence of street people who have come to prefer the street. Many of them are seriously mentally ill or substance abusers. Sometimes, they're both.

Ironically, Thursday night, I experienced another episode involving a mental health patient. I was waiting for the trolley across from Good Samaritan when a woman came running past with a man in hot pursuit. He was yelling, "Stop her!" "Stop her!" At first I thought it was a domestic violence incident. Then I noticed the woman was wearing a flimsy hospital gown and barefoot. She dodged through traffic across 23rd and made it a few blocks, before being caught. The cop (?) or mental health worker (?) then handcuffed her and shoved her into a vehicle. They drove away from the hospital, leaving me to wonder where. Having to think about two mental health episodes in one day reminded me what a serious problem we have in that area. Kroeker may indeed have been on to something.