First, the good news. Gov. Bill Ritter and his staff were uninjured in today’s shooting at the Capitol, in which an as-yet unidentified man was killed by a state trooper.It appears the shooting victim was a little looney.

He walked into the governor’s office with a gun, yelling “I am the emperor. I am here to take over state government.”

Now the questions:Why aren’t there metal detectors in the State Capitol?

Metal detectors were installed at the Capitol after the 9/11 attacks but lawmakers later had them removed.

Was it a necessary or excessive use of force to kill the gunman? Since he hadn’t fired any shots and witnesses report hearing multiple shots, all of the shooting appears to have been done by one or more state troopers. One witness recounted hearing four shots.I have to disagree with Gov. Ritter’s spokesperson Evan Dreyer, who said:

“It’s a testament to the State Patrol that this incident ended quickly and that the governor and everyone else is safe.”

“Everyone else” is not safe. A man is dead. A testament would be due the State Patrol if they had apprehended him alive so he could be charged with a crime and then tried in a court of law. At least there will be an investigation. Denver Police spokesman Sonny Jackson said this afternoon:

Denver homicide detectives are investigating the shooting because it was “a homicide that happened in the City and County of Denver.”

So, we know it was a homicide. What we don’t know is if it was justifiable.