Venture-N, a Tucson safe space for LGBTQIA+, shattered by gunfire

For Tucson’s LGBTQIA+ community, Venture-N was more than a bar. The longtime gathering place north of downtown was a neighborhood refuge where people could meet friends, build chosen families and spend time without feeling watched or threatened. That sense of safety was shattered early Monday, when two men were fatally shot in the bar’s parking lot in an attack Tucson police are investigating as a possible hate crime.

Vincent Anthony Siqueiros, 42, and Cameron Davis Capara, 33, were killed shortly after midnight at Venture-N, located at 1239 N. Sixth Ave., in the area north of East Speedway. Police identified the suspected shooter as 44-year-old Ousman Ceesay, who was 44. Ceesay suffered a gunshot wound and was later pronounced dead at a local hospital. Police have described the incident as an apparent murder suicide, while also saying they have not released details about how Ceesay was wounded or his exact manner of death.

Investigators said early evidence indicates Ceesay confronted the two men in the parking lot before opening fire. A note found with him listed several businesses associated with the LGBTQIA+ community, a detail that has intensified the hate crime investigation. Police have not disclosed which other businesses appeared on the note, whether Ceesay knew either victim or what led to the confrontation. Authorities said there is no known continuing threat to the public, but Chief Monica Prieto said patrols would be increased around LGBTQIA+ establishments as detectives work to establish what happened.

The violence has prompted mourning from city officials and organizations that serve Tucson’s queer community. Mayor Regina Romero called the shooting a direct and devastating attack on LGBTQIA+ residents and another senseless act of gun violence. She also said it was a painful reminder that homophobia remains widespread in the country. Prieto said bias based crimes are especially heinous and that investigators were examining all available evidence and pursuing leads.

People who know Venture-N described the bar as an unusually important fixture in a city with a long LGBTQIA+ history. Open since 1991, the establishment is known as an informal leather and Levi’s bar with a bar area, pool tables and darts. Its plain gray building and unpretentious atmosphere have made it a familiar place for generations of Tucsonans. Local advocates said that familiarity matters because LGBTQIA+ people often have few places where they can gather without fear of harassment or violence.

Scott Blades, a co founder and former longtime executive director of the Tucson Interfaith HIV/AIDS Network, said the shooting was especially painful because it occurred during an ordinary night out rather than at a large public event. He said organizers have increasingly considered security when planning major LGBTQIA+ gatherings amid a decade of heightened anti LGBTQ rhetoric, but Venture-N was simply a place where people had gone to socialize. Mary O’Donoghue, executive director of Southern Arizona Senior Pride, said the attack exposed how fragile Tucson’s sense of safety can be, especially for older LGBTQIA+ people who remember periods when they had to be less visible and constantly assess their surroundings.

The shooting also revived memories of violence against queer people in Tucson and beyond. Blades compared the news to the 2016 Pulse nightclub massacre in Orlando, Florida, where 49 people were killed. He also pointed to the 1976 killing of Richard Heakin at Tucson’s former Stonewall Tavern. Four teenagers were convicted in juvenile court and received probation, a result that angered the community and helped spur the city to add sexual orientation to its anti discrimination laws. Blades said that, until Monday, Tucson had not experienced another attack specifically targeting gay people since Heakin’s murder.

National LGBTQ organizations have placed the Tucson shooting within a broader pattern of violence. The 2022 attack at Club Q in Colorado Springs, Colorado, killed five people, and the Tucson incident came less than three months after the 10th anniversary of the Pulse shooting. GLAAD said nearly 50 people had been killed in anti LGBTQ hate crimes in the United States since June 2022, with nearly 350 others injured in similar attacks. The organization also reported at least 58 targeted acts of hate against LGBTQ people in Arizona during the past four years.

In Tucson, organizations are urging community members to grieve together while refusing to surrender the spaces that have sustained them. A candlelight vigil organized by Tucson Queer Stories, Tucson Senior Pride, Southern Arizona AIDS Project and other groups was scheduled for 6:30 p.m. Wednesday at the Philip Walsted Memorial in Catalina Park and Splash Pad, 941 N. Fourth Ave. Walsted, a 24 year old gay man, was beaten to death during a robbery in June 2002. Southern Arizona AIDS Project said places such as Venture-N provide friendship, belonging and chosen family, while O’Donoghue said the community would draw on its resilience and the support of allies. For many Tucsonans, the immediate challenge is mourning Siqueiros and Capara while finding a way to feel safe gathering again.