Deadly shooting at Tucson gay bar is being investigated as a possible hate crime

For Tucson’s LGBTQIA+ community, the shooting outside Venture-N Bar has shaken one of the city’s longtime gathering places and prompted increased police patrols around other gay friendly businesses. Two patrons, Vincent Anthony Siqueiros, 42, and Cameron Davis Capara, 33, were killed in the parking lot shortly after midnight Monday, Aug. 31. The suspected shooter, Ousman Ceesay, 44, also died after suffering a gunshot wound and being taken to a hospital.

Tucson police are investigating the attack as a possible hate crime. Initial evidence indicates Ceesay confronted Siqueiros and Capara in the parking lot before shooting them, according to police. Authorities have said there was no known relationship between the suspect and the victims, and investigators have not indicated that Ceesay tried to enter the bar. The shooting occurred near Venture-N Bar at Sixth Avenue and Speedway Boulevard at about 12:30 a.m., according to an earlier police account.

Police said Ceesay had a note listing several businesses associated with the LGBTQIA+ community. Detectives searching his home reportedly found additional items and evidence, including a note that indicated he acted alone and that the shooting was targeted at LGBTQIA+ people. Police also said shell casings found at the scene came from a 9mm handgun recovered there. Investigators have not publicly released a full account of how Ceesay was wounded, saying they were waiting for the medical examiner to confirm the details. An earlier police report described the wound as self inflicted.

There is no known continuing threat to the public, police said, but the department has increased its presence around other LGBTQIA+ establishments in the region. Officers have contacted the businesses named in the note, and police are coordinating with community organizations to provide support. Anyone with information about the shooting is asked to call 911 or 88 CRIME to remain anonymous.

The U.S. Justice Department’s Civil Rights Division is gathering information, though it has not opened a formal federal hate crime investigation. Any federal civil rights inquiry would be separate from the Tucson Police Department’s case. Police Chief Monica Prieto called bias based crimes especially heinous and said investigators were examining all available evidence. She also acknowledged that the shooting could create fear and pain in a city where people of different identities and backgrounds live.

A memorial of flowers, candles and photographs grew outside Venture-N on Tuesday. Tucson Queerstory, Southern Arizona Senior Pride and the Southern Arizona AIDS Foundation planned a candlelight vigil Wednesday evening at Catalina Park. Community members described the bar as a longtime sanctuary and a place where LGBTQIA+ residents could gather safely. Colete Barajas, who opened Tucson’s first women’s bar in 1983, called the shooting senseless and tragic, while community member Scott Blades said residents would continue building safety and connection together rather than retreating behind closed doors.

People who knew the victims also shared memories of them. Peter Loya, a Tucson resident who frequents Venture-N, said he had known Siqueiros for about two decades and remembered him as thoughtful, considerate and someone who looked for the best in people. Drew Fellows described Capara as a photographer committed to a better future and guided by a people first outlook. Their deaths have left friends and patrons mourning not only two individuals, but also the feeling of security associated with a familiar neighborhood bar.

The violence has been particularly painful for older LGBTQIA+ Tucsonans who have experienced discrimination and attacks throughout their lives. Mary O’Donoghue, executive director of Southern Arizona Senior Pride, said the shooting revived traumatic memories for some members in their 70s and 80s, including people who lived through the era of Stonewall and other periods of open hostility. Some community members came to Tucson after violence elsewhere, including the 2022 shooting at a gay nightclub in Colorado Springs and the 2016 Pulse nightclub massacre in Orlando, where 49 people were killed and 53 were wounded.

Mayor Regina Romero described the shooting as a direct attack on Tucson’s LGBTQIA+ community and another senseless act of gun violence. She said it underscored the persistence of homophobia and argued for stronger gun safety policies, pointing to what she called Arizona’s weak laws and easy firearm access. Congresswoman Adelita Grijalva likewise called for common sense gun safety reforms, while Pima County Board of Supervisors Chair described Venture-N as a quiet neighborhood bar and urged residents to support the victims’ families, friends and patrons. The investigation remains active as Tucson’s LGBTQIA+ community grieves and works to preserve the spaces that have long offered belonging and safety.