Arizona police confirm Tucson gay bar shooting was a hate crime

For people who spend time in Tucson’s LGBTQIA+ community, the shooting outside Venture-N is now confirmed as a hate crime, turning an already devastating act of violence into an attack that targeted the identity of the people and businesses connected to the city’s queer community. Tucson Police said Tuesday night that the gunman acted alone and was motivated by hatred toward LGBTQIA+ people. The department also said there is no known active threat to the community, but the confirmation has deepened the grief and anger surrounding the deaths of two men outside the neighborhood bar.

Vincent Anthony Siqueiros, 42, and Cameron Davis Capara, 33, were in the Venture-N parking lot shortly after midnight Monday when police said they were confronted and shot. The shooting happened around 12:30 a.m. near the bar, which is located not far from the University of Arizona campus. Both men died at the scene. The suspect, identified as 44-year-old Ousman Ceesay, then shot himself with a 9mm handgun. He was taken to a nearby hospital and later pronounced dead. Police said he never attempted to enter the bar.

Investigators found a note while searching Ceesay’s home. According to the Tucson Police Department, the note indicated that he acted alone and that the shooting was a planned attack motivated by hatred of the LGBTQIA+ community. Police also said Ceesay had a note listing other LGBTQIA+-associated businesses in the region. Officers have contacted the businesses named on that list, and the department said those contacts have not revealed an active threat. The investigation’s findings provide the basis for the department’s classification of the shooting as a hate crime.

Police said Ceesay was new to the Tucson area and did not know either victim. He had no previous contact with the Tucson Police Department, authorities said, and was not legally barred from possessing firearms. Those details have shaped the department’s account of the attack, which does not describe a personal dispute between the shooter and the victims. Instead, investigators say the available evidence points to a targeted act against members of the LGBTQIA+ community, carried out outside a place that many Tucson queer residents regarded as safe.

By Tuesday, a memorial had grown along the exterior wall of Venture-N. Rainbow-colored candles, flowers and photographs were placed there in honor of Siqueiros and Capara. The display reflected both the personal loss of the two men and the shock felt by a community accustomed to viewing Tucson as a welcoming and affirming city. Venture-N was described by Tucson Queerstory, one of the groups organizing a vigil, as a longstanding safe place for queer residents. The group asked people to support the bar as it works through the aftermath and moves toward reopening.

A candlelight vigil for Siqueiros and Capara was scheduled for Wednesday evening at a local park, with Tucson Police officers expected to provide a presence. Tucson Queerstory and other community organizations were involved in organizing the gathering. The group said the victims’ families were grateful for the support and overwhelmed by the public response. Organizers also described the shooting as both heartbreaking and infuriating, particularly because it adds another hate crime to Tucson’s history despite the city’s reputation for having a strong queer community.

Tucson Queerstory urged residents to use the vigil and the broader response to reinforce solidarity within the LGBTQIA+ community and to make clear that queer people have the right to exist safely. Its message emphasized the importance of people supporting one another while the bar and the families recover. Police said they are working with community organizations to provide assistance. For residents, the immediate questions are therefore both practical and communal: whether businesses named in the note remain safe, how Venture-N will recover, and how Tucson will respond to an attack intended to frighten more people than those who were directly confronted.

The deaths of Siqueiros and Capara have left a memorial outside Venture-N, a scheduled vigil and a continuing police investigation in their wake. Authorities have identified the suspect, recovered evidence they say shows a hate-based motive, contacted the businesses listed in his note and stated that they know of no ongoing threat. The community response is now centered on remembering the two men, supporting their families and the bar, and reaffirming the role of queer spaces in Tucson. Venture-N’s parking lot became the site of a targeted attack, but the candles, flowers and public gathering there have also become an early expression of collective resistance and grief.