It was a normal-seeming morning on Sacramento Street on Friday, 14 hours after a man had been murdered on nearby Oregon Street.

Mothers pushed children strapped in their strollers. A man bought two cans of frosty Colt 45 beer and a quarter pint of cognac at Bob’s Liquors. Two young men rapped on the metal gate leading to Perfect Plant Patient’s Group, a medical cannabis collective.

Seal Lolis, the owner of Bootstrapper, a southern style restaurant on Sacramento, lit up the charcoal in the two barbecues right outside his bright red gate. Fridays are barbecue days at the Bootstrapper, and Lolis was getting ready to cook the ribs, links and chicken his regular customers look forward to.

Lolis had been just yards away from the 7:34 pm shooting on Thursday. He was working in his restaurant and heard the shots, but stayed inside. He has been operating a business on Sacramento Street for three years, but cannot remember another time there have been so many gun battles. … Continue reading »