Two men were killed outside a gay bar in Tucson, Ariz., early Monday morning in a shooting that the police are investigating as a possible hate crime.
A gunman confronted and then shot the two victims in the parking lot of Venture-N, a bar in midtown Tucson, the police said. The authorities identified the two people killed as Vincent Anthony Siqueiros, 42, and Cameron Davis Capara, 33, who were pronounced dead at the scene.
The suspected shooter, identified as Ousman Ceesay, 44, also had gunshot wounds when the police arrived at the bar around 12:30 a.m. on Monday, the authorities said, adding that he died shortly after arriving at a nearby hospital. It was not immediately clear if his wounds were self-inflicted.
Mr. Ceesay was in possession of a note that listed several L.G.B.T.Q.-associated businesses that he may have been targeting, the police said. After the shooting, they increased patrols around L.G.B.T.Q. venues across the city, they said.
He had an address in Oklahoma City, according to public records, and had no criminal history beyond a speeding ticket in 2012. In 2018, he and his then-wife filed for bankruptcy, court records show. Attempts to reach her were unsuccessful. The petition stated that Mr. Ceesay was briefly employed as an Uber and Lyft driver.
Mayor Regina Romero of Tucson called Monday’s shooting a “direct and devastating attack on our L.G.B.T.Q. community” in a video statement she posted on social media. “This tragedy is another painful reminder that homophobia is still rampant in our country,” she added.
Monica Prieto, chief of the Tucson Police Department, said in a statement that “bias-based crimes are especially heinous and have no place in our community.”
The second-largest city in the state, Tucson has long been a progressive pocket in southeast Arizona and has become known for L.G.B.T.Q. activism. After a young gay man, Richard Heakin, was brutally murdered outside a gay bar in 1976, the community rallied and formed Tucson Pride, which worked toward what became some of the first anti-discrimination legislation in the state.
Since then, the Human Rights Campaign has awarded Tucson a score of 100 out of 100 on its municipal equality index, which measures how inclusive a city’s laws, policies and services are. And several L.G.B.T.Q. community organizations have long histories in the area.
Residents described Venture-N as a low-key gathering spot where everyone knew everyone. People come by after work to play pool, sit on the patio to drink beer and catch up with friends, said Sam Cloud, who was appointed to the city’s commission on L.G.B.T.Q. issues.
“It’s been a safe, familiar queer space where people could walk in and feel like they belonged, which is partly of why this hits so hard,” Ms. Cloud said.
The shooting appeared to be an isolated incident, and because the only known suspect died, charges were unlikely to be brought, the Pima County attorney, Laura Conover, said.
Reached by phone, Amanda Kate Marquez, 45, Mr. Siqueiros’s sister, said her family was in a state of shock. She described her younger brother as the “funniest, sweetest, most loving human we have ever known.”
Mr. Siqueiros was one of four children and had worked as a restaurant server, Ms. Marquez said. She added that he had made friends wherever he went and was beloved by his nieces and nephews.
“There’s a gigantic gap in all of our hearts that can never be filled,” she said.
Berni Capara, the mother of Mr. Capara, the other victim, described her son as a “wonderful and caring person” who “never judged anyone.” She said that his greatest passion was photography and that he frequently captured images of pro-Palestinian protests and rallies against the Immigration and Customs Enforcement crackdown.
“That somebody would kill him for being gay is just outrageous,” she said.
On Tuesday afternoon outside the bar, a nondescript gray building near downtown Tucson and about a half-mile west of the campus of the University of Arizona, several candles and bouquets of flowers were placed next to photographs of the two victims.
Haley Mariscal, a friend of Mr. Capara, drove to Venture-N on Tuesday with her mother, Elizabeth Mariscal, to leave three flower bouquets and two stuffed cats. The elder Ms. Mariscal said they came to show others that both Mr. Capara and Mr. Siqueiros were loved.
Haley Mariscal wept recalling memories of her friend. “He could put a smile on your face if you were having a bad day,” she said of Mr. Capara, adding that he loved his photography work.
“He was so happy,” she said.
Kirsten Noyes contributed research.
The post Shooting at Tucson Gay Bar That Killed 2 Investigated as Hate Crime appeared first on New York Times.
