Tucson, Arizona, police investigate gay bar shooting as a possible hate crime
Police in Arizona say a shooting at a Tucson gay bar that left three people dead, including the shooter, is being investigated as a possible hate crime.
Vincent Anthony Siqueiros, 42, and Cameron Davis Capara, 33, were shot in the parking lot of Venture-N shortly after midnight Monday, and both died at the scene, the Tucson Police Department said. The suspect, Ousman Ceesay, 44, also suffered a gunshot wound and was pronounced dead at a local hospital, according to the department.
Ceesay was carrying a note that listed several LGBTQIA+-associated businesses, according to a police news release, and initial evidence suggests he confronted the two victims in the parking lot before shooting them.
The investigation is ongoing, but there is no known active threat to the community, police said. Still, the department has increased its police presence around other gay-friendly businesses in the region.
“Bias-based crimes are especially heinous and have no place in our community,” Chief of Police Monica Prieto said. “Our investigators are thoroughly examining the evidence and pursuing all available leads as they work to establish the full circumstances surrounding this tragic incident.”
The police department released few details about the shooting and did not say whether Ceesay knew the victims. The department also declined to immediately release details about Ceesay’s manner of death beyond saying he had a gunshot wound. The department’s public information officer, James Horton, said investigators were awaiting details from the medical examiner to confirm Ceesay’s injuries.
Flowers, candles and photos marked a growing memorial to Siqueiros and Capara outside the bar Tuesday, and several community groups, including Tucson Queerstory, Southern Arizona Senior Pride and the Southern Arizona AIDS Foundation, were planning a candlelight vigil for Wednesday night at a local park.
“Venture-N has been a safe haven, a sanctuary, and a place of comfort for Tucson’s queer community for decades,” PFLAG Phoenix wrote in a social media post. “This tragedy is a heavy and painful reminder of the homophobia and hate that still exists.”
The shooting left members of the LGBTQIA+ community shocked and heartbroken, said Mary O'Donoghue, the executive director of Southern Arizona Senior Pride. It also stirred up traumatic memories for many older adults, damaging the sense of safety they had in an otherwise often-welcoming city, said O'Donoghue, whose organization provides supportive services and healthy aging programming for LGBTQ seniors.
“We're talking about folks that are in their 70s and 80s, having lived through Stonewall and other experiences where there has been discrimination, aggression and violence,” O'Donoghue said. “It really has a rippling effect — they're reliving a lifetime of violence and discrimination on their community.”
O'Donoghue said one person she talked to had moved to Tucson from Colorado Springs, Colorado, where a shooting at a gay nightclub in 2022 left five people dead. Other group members retired to Tucson after living in Florida, where 49 people were killed and 53 others were wounded in the 2016 Pulse nightclub shooting in Orlando, Florida.
Tucson Mayor Regina Romero said the shooting at Venture-N was a “direct and devastating attack on our LGBTQ+ community, another senseless act of gun violence.”
The shooting “serves as another painful reminder that homophobia is still rampant in our country,” Romero said in a video posted to Facebook.
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