The overflowing mailboxes outside the US Post Office in Hillcrest seemed afternoon walk-reward enough until I came upon the ruckus along Cleveland Ave. between Tyler and Van Buren, which are in University Heights. As I approached from Washington Street, my eyes couldn’t reconcile a black mass moving amoeba-like on the sidewalk nearly two blocks ahead. Closing in, a line of parked cop cars hinted to what could only be a rather large number of San Diego police officers.
Residents looked on from the sidewalk, apartment stairs, and balconies at the commotion. As one gent exited his building, I ask if he knew what happened. “A murder”, he said, “in one of the apartments”. He pointed up the street. Yikes! But further along, I observed a policeman talking to another neighbor. I asked him the same question. Someone attacked one of the officers. Possibly a homeless person, he speculated.
The incident is another life-lesson about gossip and verifying information. “Murder” is a dramatic occurrence—and uncommon in this neighborhood. It’s easy to want to believe and spread. “OMG, did you hear about the murder?” But my guess is that the person who had spoken to one of the “City’s Finest” gave the more accurate account.
Luckily, Leica Q2 was strapped and hanging around my back, so I grabbed some quick shots. Starting with the Featured Image (warning: 19MB file), the four are a progression. Vitals, aperture manually set for all: f/5.6, ISO 100, 1/250 sec, 28mm; 4 p.m. PDT. The others are the same but 1/400 sec.
The second and third photos were shot successively. Vantage point is identical, but they are cropped quite differently. The woman watching in the one adds perspective and a storytelling element. The other is meant to demonstrate just how much amazing detail the Q2 captures. The crop is nearly 100 percent!
I leaned against an apartment building’s large mailbox (yep, cropped out) for the last in the series, which angle includes gawkers across the street. BTW, look closely. EMTs are wheeling a stretcher towards the apartment building. Did I too easily dismiss murder?