Two men were shot and killed early Monday outside Venture-N, a longtime gay bar in Tucson, Arizona, and police say the suspected gunman was carrying a note listing other LGBTQ-friendly businesses he may have intended to target next.

Officers responded to Venture-N around 12:30 a.m. local time and found Siqueiros, Capara and Ceesay with gunshot wounds. The two victims died at the scene; Ceesay died later at a hospital. Investigators said Ceesay confronted the two men in the parking lot before opening fire. Tucson Mayor Regina Romero said he possessed addresses for multiple LGBTQ-friendly venues and intended, in her words, to cause more harm.

A List That Widened the Scope

What began as a shooting outside one bar quickly became something larger once police disclosed the note. Tucson Police Chief Monica Prieto said bias-based crimes have no place in the community and that investigators are pursuing every lead. Though officials say there's no indication of an ongoing threat, police have increased patrols near LGBTQ+ establishments across the city, an acknowledgment that the danger was never confined to a single address.

Learning the gunman was targeting LGBTQ+ friendly businesses is both chilling and enraging, and yet another dangerous example of the hate and bigotry that makes all Americans less safe.
Kelley Robinson, Human Rights Campaign

Mourning in Public, Deliberately

Tucson Queerstory, the Southern Arizona AIDS Foundation and Southern Arizona Senior Pride organized Wednesday's vigil at Catalina Park, with security from the Tucson Police Department. The Southern Arizona AIDS Foundation described places like Venture-N as more than businesses: sites of friendship, chosen family and belonging. GLAAD joined local organizations and elected officials in mourning the two men.

Once again, our community is grieving after a deadly and senseless act of hate.
Sarah Kate Ellis, GLAAD

Why It Matters

This shooting didn't happen in isolation. GLAAD's tracking found more than 1,000 anti-LGBTQ+ incidents nationwide in 2025 alone, a rise from the year before, and federal hate crime data show attacks on LGBTQ+ people climbing for four consecutive years. GLAAD's ALERT Desk has linked nearly 50 deaths and roughly 350 injuries to such violence nationwide since June 2022, with at least 58 targeted incidents recorded in Arizona over the past four years.

MQ's Take

A gay bar isn't just a place to drink. For a lot of us, it's the first room where we didn't have to explain ourselves, and that's exactly why it becomes a target. The fact that a list existed at all, that this wasn't confined to one door, is the part that should unsettle every reader, not just Tucson's community. Gathering anyway, in public, at a park with a name and a time, is its own kind of statement. Rep. Adelita Grijalva and Mayor Romero both called for stronger gun safety measures; Romero told residents directly they are not alone. That message matters, but so does what comes after the vigil ends.

Sources: them., Mamba Online, GLAAD, The Advocate

Cover photo: Tahir Xəlfəquliyev / Pexels

hate crime

Tucson Vigil Follows Deadly Attack on Gay Bar That May Have Targeted More Venues