California women murdered because of Pride flag

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A business owner was fatally shot Friday after someone allegedly took issue with a Pride flag she had displayed at her clothing store in Lake Arrowhead, California.

Deputies responded at 5 p.m. to the shooting at the Mag Pi clothing store, where owner Laura Ann Carleton was pronounced dead, the San Bernardino Sheriff's Department said in a news release. The suspect, who was not identified, ran away.

“Through further investigation, detectives learned the suspect made several disparaging remarks about a rainbow flag that stood outside the store before shooting Carleton,” the news release said.

The suspect was armed when confronted by deputies and was killed in "a lethal force encounter," the sheriff’s department said. An investigation continues.

The Mag Pi store website described Carleton as a mother of nine who has been "married to the same man for 28 years." Carleton, who went by the name Lauri, had studied at the Art Center School of Design and had had a long career in fashion, including 15 years as an executive at Kenneth Cole, the site said.

Mountain Provisions Cooperative, a local grocery store, said Saturday on social media that Carleton had been pivotal in helping organize a free store after a blizzard hit the area this year.

"Lauri was a pillar in our community, an immovable force in her values for equality, love, and justice," the post said. "If you knew Lauri you know she loved hard, laughed often, and nurtured and protected those she cared about."

The store encouraged people to "fly your flags in honor of Lauri."

Police identified a man Monday who shot and killed a California business owner last week after he allegedly took issue with a Pride flag she had displayed at her clothing store in Lake Arrowhead, California. Sheriff's officials told NBC News that the killing is being investigated as a possible hate crime.

Travis Ikeguchi, 27, was responsible for shooting Laura Ann Carleton, 66, to death after "yelling many homophobic slurs" about the store's Pride flag Friday, San Bernardino County Sheriff Shannon Dicus said at a news conference Monday.

Ikeguchi fled Carleton's store, Mag Pi, by foot and was later killed in “a lethal force encounter" with deputies Friday. He fired at multiple patrol vehicles with an unregistered semi-automatic handgun before officials fatally shot him, Dicus said.

Dicus added that it appears Ikeguchi acted alone. However, he said that authorities want to ensure that the crime was not affiliated with any broader hate groups and that the investigation continues.

A sheriff's spokesperson told NBC News that the incident is being investigated as a potential hate crime, but officials did not elaborate when they were asked at the news conference Monday.

Officials said Monday that Ikeguchi — a resident of Cedar Glen, California — had a history of making posts that were critical of the LGBTQ community and law enforcement on multiple social media platforms, including X, formerly known as Twitter.

In response to a request for comment about Monday's news conference, Carleton's daughter, Ari Carleton, said her "family doesn’t care" about Ikeguchi.

San Bernardino County Supervisor Dawn Rowe, a Republican whose district represents Lake Arrowhead, also denounced Carleton's killing and vowed to create an environment in which LGBTQ people feel safe and respected.

California Gov. Gavin Newsom, a Democrat, condemned the shooting Sunday, calling it "absolutely horrific."

Carleton's killing prompted an outpouring from celebrities, including actors Jamie Lee Curtis and Kristin Davis, and sparked outrage among national LGBTQ activists.

Ellis pointed to a recent report by GLAAD and the Anti-Defamation League, which tallied more than 350 anti-LGBTQ hate and extremism incidents in the U.S. from June 2022 to April.

Some of the more recent anti-LGBTQ hate-fueled crimes have also similarly involved rainbow Pride flags.

In February, a woman got out of her car and approached a rainbow Pride flag hanging outside a New York City restaurant and set it on fire. In June, LGBTQ Pride Month, a Pride flag was taken down and burned outside a City Hall building in Tempe, Arizona. Again in New York City, Pride flags were torn down and damaged at least three times outside the Stonewall Inn — the site of the riots that are credited as the turning point of the modern LGBTQ rights movement — in June.

Carleton also was killed just weeks after the fatal stabbing of a 28-year-old gay man in New York City.

O’Shae Sibley, a professional dancer and choreographer, was stabbed to death July 29 after having danced to music by Beyoncé at a Brooklyn gas station. A 17-year-old male was arrested and charged with murder as a hate crime.

Deceased suspect was reported missing by his own family before the shooting, I'm going to speculate here that this was not a well person.

How about the part where he murdered a woman for flying a Pride flag at her store..