Tucson police say a man who shot and killed two men outside a gay bar early Monday, then turned the gun on himself, left behind notes making clear the attack was motivated by hatred of LGBTQ+ people.
The Tucson Police Department said in a news release Tuesday night that the suspect, 44-year-old Ousman Ceesay, was new to the area and did not know either victim. Ceesay approached Vincent Anthony Siqueiros, 42, and Cameron Davis Capara, 33, in the parking lot of the Venture-N bar around 12:30 a.m. Monday and opened fire. Both men died at the scene. Ceesay then shot himself with a 9mm handgun; he never attempted to enter the bar. He was pronounced dead at a nearby hospital.
Detectives searching Ceesay’s home found a note that, according to police, “indicated he acted alone and that this shooting was a targeted attack motivated by hate toward the LGBTQIA+ community.” Police also said Ceesay was carrying a note listing other LGBTQIA+-associated businesses in the region.
Ceesay’s cousin, Muhammad Sylva, told the Arizona Daily Star that the two grew up together in The Gambia, a West African country where homosexuality is illegal. Sylva said Ceesay immigrated to the United States in 2010 on a student visa, later married a woman from Oklahoma, and was a practicing Muslim whose faith Sylva described as not extreme. Sylva said the two never discussed homosexuality or LGBT issues, saying the topic is stigmatized in their home country. Ceesay’s current immigration status was not immediately clear, and there is no indication he was in the country illegally.
One of the victims, Cameron Davis Capara, had reportedly been involved with Antifa. Police have not indicated that this had any bearing on the attack, and there is no evidence tying the two facts together.
The investigation remains ongoing.
Add comment