Shooting

You know it's the playoffs when Kobe Bryant is speaking in clipped and barely audible answers. It reflects his dialed-in focus. It reveals his want to end interviews quickly. It likely showcases the fourth estate not always asking the most intelligent questions. But that's not what made his session after Saturday's practice turn sour. A reporter mentioned Bryant's 43% mark from the field, his lowest since 1997-98, his second year in the NBA. Bryant sarcastically blamed it on "old age," while Lakers Coach Mike Brown thoughtfully attributed the lockout-compressed season, Bryant's 38.3 minutes a game and the system's fluctuating offense.

Time after time, Kobe Bryant's shot fell short of the basket. But that hardly phased Lakers Coach Mike Brown. He believed, at some point, that Bryant's shots would eventually fall. They usually do. Yes, it proved to be a tough balancing act in the Lakers' 88-85 victory Saturday over the New Orleans Hornets. Bryant hit what proved to be the game-winning shot  -- a 26 foot three-pointer with 21 seconds left -- but he didn't make his first shot of the game until his 16th attempt.

The number one, as in the number of Clippers wins, was lodged in Rasual Butler's mind, but so were some others from his performance Monday, such as his three-for-15 shooting from the field. That's why he stayed after practice Thursday, going well into extra time. Butler worked on his shot long after his teammates had departed for lunch or other errands before their afternoon flight to the Bay Area for tonight's game against the Golden State Warriors. "I was just a little disappointed in the way I shot the ball the other night," said Butler, who was also five for six from the free-throw line.

Dozens gathered in the small and simple chapel of SeaCoast Grace Church in Seal Beach to pray, to cry and to know they were not alone. They were there Wednesday evening to mourn the eight who had been killed in the shooting at the Salon Meritage, only a few blocks from the sanctuary. They were also mourning for the sense of security that the deadliest mass murder in Orange County history punctured in their tight-knit community. "Stuff like that doesn't happen here," said Ashley Rhoads, who grew up in Seal Beach.

A Long Beach man suspected of shooting a code enforcement inspector before barricading himself in his house was taken into custody Thursday after a seven-hour standoff. The shooting occurred around 8 a.m. as code enforcement officers arrived with police backup to serve an inspection warrant at what was described as a "blighted residence" in the 6100 block of John Avenue, Long Beach Police Chief Jim McDonnell said. "This residence has been a problem for code enforcement over the past few years," he said.

A man was in critical condition after a shooting Saturday on the Venice boardwalk that sent hordes of onlookers running pell-mell into the streets, police said Sunday. "It looked like a human tidal wave," said Spencer L. Sirlin, 27, a Hollywood booking agent who witnessed the attack. The victim, in his mid-20s, was struck in the head and side and taken to Ronald Reagan UCLA Medical Center, said Los Angeles police Sgt. Felipe Vasquez, of the Pacific Division's beach detail. The man's name and updated condition were not available Sunday evening.

The two suspects in a shooting rampage that terrorized the black community in Tulsa, Okla., over the weekend have confessed, police said Monday. Tulsa Police Department arrest report s obtained by The Times say 32-year-old Alvin Watts confessed to shooting two people and 19-year-old Jake England confessed to shooting three. England's arrest report says he drove during the shootings and led police to the weapon. Tulsa police spokesman Jason Willingham told The Times that the gun and a truck were seized in connection with the shootings.

The investigation into a controversial police killing of a college student last weekend took a dramatic twist Wednesday when Pasadena authorities arrested a 911 caller, alleging his fabrication led to the shooting. An officer shot 19-year-old Kendrec McDade on a narrow street in the city's Northwest district about 11 p.m. Saturday. Police were dispatched to the scene after a man, identified as Oscar Carrillo, called 911. He said two armed men had stolen his laptop computer and backpack as he was buying tacos at a stand on Orange Grove Boulevard.

The bullets did not discriminate. Sprayed from the barrel of a 9mm Glock semiautomatic pistol by a man whose actions may never make sense, they killed six people and wounded 14 more. Those whose lives ended violently Saturday were participating in a basic democratic exercise. They had come to meet the woman who represents them in Washington, Rep. Gabrielle Giffords. A Democrat who had won her third term by a sliver, Giffords was the intended target of the shooter's attack, authorities said.