A gunman who killed California store proprietor Laura “Lauri” Carleton after making “disparaging remarks” about her LGBTQ+ flag has been named by authorities.
Travis Ikeguchi, 27, shot the 66-year-old mother-of-nine useless outdoors of her Mag.Pi retailer in Cedar Glen, 83 miles east of Los Angeles, the San Bernardino County Sheriff’s Department stated in a press release on Monday.
Deputies discovered Carleton outdoors the shop affected by a single gunshot wound at 5pm (PT) on Friday. She was pronounced useless on the scene by emergency medical responders.
The suspect was positioned close by close to Torrey Rd and Rause Rancho Rd armed with a handgun, and was shot useless by deputies.
The shootings stay below investigation.
San Bernardino Sheriff Shannon Dicus confirmed the suspect’s identification at a press convention on Monday afternoon.
He confirmed that the suspect had “Pulled down a pride flag and yelled many homophobic slurs towards Carleton” earlier than capturing her.
Officials say that the gun used to kill Carleton was a Smith & Wesson 9mm semi-automatic pistol, that was not registered to the suspect.
And the sheriff added that the suspect’s household had reported him as lacking the day earlier than the homicide came about.
Carleton has been remembered by household and buddies as a staunch ally of the LGBTQ+ neighborhood who died whereas standing as much as homophobic hate speech.
Carleton, who was married to husband Bort for 28 years, was “murdered over a pride flag that she proudly hung on her storefront”, daughters Ari and Kelsey wrote on Instagram.
“Make no mistake, this was a hate crime,” the daughters wrote.
Vandals had ripped down rainbow flags a number of instances from the shop that Carleton opened in 2021, and every time she would substitute them with greater ones, the daughters stated.
Ghostbusters director Paul Feig wrote on Instagram that his “wonderful friend” had been murdered by a person who “didn’t like that she had a large pride flag hanging outside of her shop”.
“This intolerance has to end. Anyone using hateful language against the LGBTQ+ community has to realize their words matter, that their words can inspire violence against innocent loving people,” Mr Feig stated.
The Lake Arrowhead LGBT+ neighborhood group is planning to carry a vigil for Carleton as soon as Tropical Storm Hilary passes.