A shooting at a gay bar in Tucson that left three people dead, including the shooter, is being investigated as a possible hate crime, police say. Police officers rushed to the parking lot of Venture-N shortly shortly after midnight Monday and found two people, Vincent Anthony Siqueiros, 42, and Cameron Davis Capara, 33, fatally wounded. They both died at the scene, the Tucson Police Department said.
The suspect, Ousman Ceesay, 44, 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 Ceesay confronted the two victims in the parking lot before shooting them both. 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. 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. NYC Pride noted on social media that June 12 marked the 10th anniversary of the Pulse nightclub shooting in Orlando, Florida, when 49 people were killed and 53 were wounded.
The Pulse massacre was, at the time, the worst mass shooting in modern U.S. history. Tragedies like this are a painful reminder that too often, they are not,” NYC Pride wrote on Instagram. 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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