We had just finished afternoon Macha green tea at Heritage coffee house and were walking three blocks east to Deckhand Dave’s for some halibut tacos. There’s a small alcove where homeless gather along that route, maybe a half-dozen during the day. We heard later that Juneau has a severe homeless and drug problem, which I think is common for a cold, far-away place. We were told that the city problem was much worse until they opened the new homeless shelter a few miles away from town.
So, as we were walking by, one of the homeless guys caught my eye because he was twirling a significant size knife, like a 10-inch military issue. He had a vacant look in his eye. We just walked.
Dave’s is outdoors on a small bluff with flame heaters and a view of the local streets. We ordered our tacos. About halfway thru lunch, we heard a distant police car siren, which then pulled up and stopped on the street below us. The officer ran quickly from the car over to the homeless area, which we couldn’t see. A few moments later, a second cruiser arrived. This time, the officer exited the car with an AR15 military rifle. I was pretty sure this involved one of the homeless guys — and likely the knife guy.
A crowd gathered and we could see many with mobile phones taking video. We had a bad feeling. More vehicles quickly arrived, cops, ambulance, etc.
We finished up lunch and walked down from the bluff, from which point we could then see it was indeed the homeless knife guy — standing up confronting and yelling at the cops, who had their weapons pointed 20 feet from him, on opposite sides. I’m thinking to myself, this isn’t how you deal with mentally ill people. And we both knew it wasn’t going to end well. We walked away north on Franklin Street.
Two blocks later, we heard a number of loud gun blasts.
Later that day we were talking with a town local. She said the homeless guy was known around here, severe mental challenges and always carried around that knife. He died later that day at the hospital. It was a sickening moment to hear the gunfire, knowing that there are better ways to confront psychotic episodes. With a large population of ill people, the Juneau police force needs a mediation office, with people skilled at de-escalating psychotic behavior. You don’t kill sick people.
We will remember this vacation, both for its exquisite natural beauty and its horrific human darkness.
John La Grou
Sacramento, California