What we know about the man accused of killing two people outside an Arizona gay bar

For people who gather at Venture-N, a longtime LGBTQIA+ bar on North Sixth Avenue, the parking lot has become a place of mourning after two men were fatally shot there Monday. Flowers, candles and handwritten notes now surround photographs of Vincent Anthony Siqueiros and Cameron Davis Capara, who police say were killed without any prior connection to the accused gunman. The shooting has shaken one of Tucson’s established LGBTQIA+ gathering places and prompted memorials both in the city and in Phoenix.

Tucson police identified the suspect as 44-year-old Ousman Ceesay. Authorities say he traveled to Arizona, confronted Siqueiros and Capara outside the bar, shot them, and then shot himself. The two victims died at the scene, while Ceesay later died at a hospital. Police are investigating the Aug. 31 shooting as a hate crime after finding a note at Ceesay’s home that indicated hatred toward the LGBTQIA+ community.

Investigators also said Ceesay was carrying a list of businesses associated with the LGBTQIA+ community when he was killed. That detail has heightened concerns beyond Venture-N, since the list suggested the bar might not have been his only potential target. Police have said Ceesay had no apparent relationship with either victim. The available information does not indicate that he had previously visited Venture-N or knew the men he shot.

The shooting prompted a visible response from LGBTQIA+ communities elsewhere in Arizona. In Phoenix, volunteers gathered outside Boycott Bar in the Melrose District to make and display 600 luminaries along Seventh Avenue. Several nearby businesses, including Thunderbird Lounge, Smith’s and Title 9, participated. The crowd held a moment of silence for Siqueiros and Capara and spoke about the attack as a reminder that violence aimed at LGBTQIA+ people can occur in any community.

Audrey Corley, the owner of Boycott Bar, said bars such as hers and Venture-N are meant to provide safety, belonging and support. The Phoenix gathering was intended to show that when LGBTQIA+ people are targeted, they will remain visible and united. Corley also connected the memorial to broader concerns about the cost of living and political participation, saying people should not be harmed because of whom they love and urging people to vote.

Meanwhile, relatives of Ceesay in The Gambia are trying to understand how the man they knew could be connected to the killings. His cousin, Muhammad Sylva, told the Arizona Daily Star that he had never heard Ceesay express anti-gay views during the years they were close. The two grew up in the same household in The Gambia, playing soccer, listening to their grandmother’s stories and sharing a bed as children. Sylva said Ceesay had never seemed violent.

Sylva described Ceesay as a practicing Muslim who commonly prayed five times a day and observed fasts, but he said his cousin’s religious practice was not extreme. In The Gambia, where homosexuality is criminalized and LGBTQIA+ people face significant social discrimination, the subject was rarely discussed, Sylva said. The country’s laws include a 2014 provision criminalizing “aggravated homosexuality,” with a maximum punishment of life in prison, according to the Human Dignity Trust. Earlier laws had already prohibited same-sex conduct and so-called gross indecency.

Sylva last spoke with Ceesay by phone in late July. He said Ceesay had separated from his wife, was driving for Uber and was looking for full-time employment. Ceesay did not tell him he planned to move to Arizona, and Sylva said he did not appear distressed during their conversation. They talked about relatives, rising costs in The Gambia and memories from childhood. Sylva said Ceesay gave no indication that he was planning violence.

Ceesay came to the United States roughly 17 years ago on a student visa to attend college in Oklahoma, according to Sylva. He had saved money from a banking job in The Gambia to finance the move. Records indicate he had lived in Oklahoma since at least 2011, and he later became a naturalized U.S. citizen. Sylva recalled receiving a video from Ceesay showing his naturalization ceremony, during which a recorded message from President Donald Trump appeared on a large screen.

Court records show that Ceesay and his wife filed for Chapter 7 bankruptcy in 2018. In 2025, their Oklahoma City landlord sought to evict them after they accumulated more than $1,000 in unpaid rent. Sylva said Ceesay never told him he was experiencing financial hardship. Other records indicate Ceesay had no serious criminal history beyond a speeding ticket. Police believe he had been in Tucson only a short time before the shooting, but officials have not publicly explained what brought him to the city or what led to the attack.

The investigation continues as Tucson residents and LGBTQIA+ communities remember the victims and assess the safety of spaces intended to provide refuge. Police have not publicly released a detailed explanation of the note found at Ceesay’s home, beyond describing it as expressing hatred toward LGBTQIA+ people. The memorial outside Venture-N and the Phoenix luminary gathering have provided places for people to grieve, while the investigation may determine how Ceesay selected the bar, whether he intended to target other businesses, and what happened during his final days in Arizona.