Regarding that cop who killed "Paulie..."

Now that a week and more has passed since a Madison cop gunned down a slightly built and unarmed Paul Heenan on S. Baldwin St., I feel amply justified in commenting at length. Whatever his purported offense - and all indications are that it was no more than a case of accidentally entering someone else's apartment - Mr. Heenan was shot THREE times. So I'm glad to see some people in Williamson-Marquette are livid. Mad enough to respond in some other fashion besides holding a prayer vigil that sought, among its various aims, the well-being of the officer who killed "Paulie," as he was known to his friends (I never knew him). I have been reading some of the letters to the editor in the State Journal; at least one described this as cold-blooded murder, and I'm inclined to agree. Chief Noble Wray seems bent on imposing a whitewash. But the officer who killed this young man has a very questionable record, and was "disciplined" in 2001 for firing his service weapon at an automobile fleeing from the Lake Street Parking ramp, in a very crowded part of town. That's how I see it. I was beginning to wonder if everyone in Williamson-Marquette has overdosed on New Agey touchy-feely-ism. Reassuring, to know that others besides me think this calls for, at the very least, a multi-million dollar lawsuit.