Tucson, Arizona, police investigate gay bar shooting as a possible hate
crime
[September 02, 2026]
By REBECCA BOONE
Police in Arizona say a shooting at a Tucson gay bar that left three
people dead, including the shooter, is being investigated as a possible
hate crime.
Vincent Anthony Siqueiros, 42, and Cameron Davis Capara, 33, were shot
in the parking lot of Venture-N shortly after midnight Monday, and both
died at the scene, the Tucson Police Department said. The suspect,
Ousman Ceesay, 44, also suffered a gunshot wound and 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 he confronted the two victims in the parking lot before
shooting them.
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.
“Bias-based crimes are especially heinous and have no place in our
community,” Chief of Police Monica Prieto said. “Our investigators are
thoroughly examining the evidence and pursuing all available leads as
they work to establish the full circumstances surrounding this tragic
incident.”
The police department released few details about the shooting and did
not say whether Ceesay knew the victims. The department also declined to
immediately release details about Ceesay’s manner of death beyond saying
he had a gunshot wound. The department’s public information officer,
James Horton, said investigators were awaiting details from the medical
examiner to confirm Ceesay’s injuries.
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.
“Venture-N has been a safe haven, a sanctuary, and a place of comfort
for Tucson’s queer community for decades,” PFLAG Phoenix wrote in a
social media post. “This tragedy is a heavy and painful reminder of the
homophobia and hate that still exists.”
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A growing memorial sits outside the Venture-N Bar in Tucson, Ariz.,
Tuesday, Sept. 1, 2026, for Vincent Siquieros and Cameron Capara,
who were fatally shot in the parking lot of the gay bar shortly
after midnight Monday. (AP Photo/Rebecca Noble)
The shooting left members of the LGBTQIA+ community shocked and
heartbroken, said Mary O'Donoghue, the executive director of
Southern Arizona Senior Pride. It also stirred up traumatic memories
for many older adults, damaging the sense of safety they had in an
otherwise often-welcoming city, said O'Donoghue, whose organization
provides supportive services and healthy aging programming for LGBTQ
seniors.
“We're talking about folks that are in their 70s and 80s, having
lived through Stonewall and other experiences where there has been
discrimination, aggression and violence,” O'Donoghue said. “It
really has a rippling effect — they're reliving a lifetime of
violence and discrimination on their community.”
O'Donoghue said one person she talked to had moved to Tucson from
Colorado Springs, Colorado, where a shooting at a gay nightclub in
2022 left five people dead. Other group members retired to Tucson
after living in Florida, where 49 people were killed and 53 others
were wounded in the 2016 Pulse nightclub shooting in Orlando,
Florida.
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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