Two men were shot and killed early Monday in the parking lot of Venture-N, a longtime LGBTQ+ bar in Tucson, Arizona, by a gunman who was later found carrying a handwritten list of LGBTQ+ businesses. Police are investigating the killings as a hate crime.
A Confrontation Outside Venture-N
Tucson police responded around 12:30 a.m. Monday to reports of gunfire outside Venture-N, a small bar near the University of Arizona that has served the city's leather community and, over the years, become a gathering spot for many of Tucson's older LGBTQ+ residents. Officers found three men with gunshot wounds. Siqueiros and Capara died at the scene. The suspected gunman, identified as Ceesay, died at a hospital shortly after.
Police said the evidence so far suggests Ceesay confronted the two men in the parking lot before opening fire. Tucson Police Chief Monica Prieto called the killings "especially heinous" and said investigators are "pursuing all available leads" to establish the full circumstances.
Bias-based crimes are especially heinous and have no place in our community.
Monica Prieto, Tucson Police Chief
A Note That Suggested a Bigger Target
What turned this from a shooting into a hate crime investigation was what police found on Ceesay afterward: a note listing several LGBTQ+-associated businesses. Tucson Mayor Regina Romero said investigators believe the list wasn't incidental. She said police confirmed Ceesay possessed addresses for multiple LGBTQ+-friendly venues and appeared to intend further harm beyond Venture-N. Police say they've found no indication of an ongoing threat, but have increased patrols around LGBTQIA+ establishments and are coordinating with community organizations for support.
A Community in Mourning
A crowd gathered outside Venture-N Monday afternoon with flowers, candles and photos, and Tucson Queerstory has organized a community gathering Wednesday at Catalina Park to honor Siqueiros and Capara. Friends described Siqueiros as thoughtful and always looking for the best in people, and remembered Capara as a photographer with a "people-first mentality" who fought for a better future for his community.
We can't be safe even in our own bars. We have to use that compassion, that strength, to keep going.
Peter Loya, Venture-N regular
Local leaders have leaned hard on the same theme: this isn't supposed to happen here. Pima County Board of Supervisors Chair Jen Allen called the county typically "diverse and loving," and a Tucson Queerstory officer told local reporters the attack felt like an aberration in a city that prides itself on being welcoming to LGBTQ+ people.
MQ's Take
A note with addresses on it isn't just evidence, it's a warning about how organized this kind of violence can be. Bars like Venture-N exist precisely because LGBTQ+ people have needed somewhere the outside world's hostility couldn't follow them in. When that space gets breached with a target list in hand, it lands differently than an isolated act of rage. It reads like premeditation.
That's why Rep. Adelita Grijalva's response mattered as much as the mourning. She took the killings to the House floor, tying them directly to the country's refusal to act on gun policy. Arizona has no permit or background-check requirement for private firearm sales, no safe-storage law, and no assault-weapons ban, factors Romero and Grijalva both cited as compounding the danger. Grief alone won't close that gap. Whether Congress does anything with it once back in session is, as always, the open question.
Sources: LGBTQ Nation, them., The Advocate
Cover photo: Alfo Medeiros / Pexels
