The ridiculous violence in N.O.

Tragedy rips away a newsman's hard shell: Guest column by photographer Michael DeMocker | NOLA.com

Warning: The story is from the photgrapher that shot the TP pictures from the birthday party where the 5 year old was murdered. His picture of the father holding his shot child is included in the piece.

"Tragedy rips away a newsman's hard shell: Guest column by photographer Michael DeMocker" Good read from the Sunday Times Picayune.

"When fellow photographer Ted Jackson arrived, he saw my distress and reached out to put a hand on my shoulder. The hundreds of murders I have covered over the years were like hundreds of punches, but this was the one that finally knocked me down. And I cried. The overflow of emotion was much like that I felt after Gleason's blocked punt, only this time it wasn't hope for the city I love flooding into me; it was that same hope draining back out."