Suspect identified in shooting death of store owner over Pride flag: Police

A California clothes retailer proprietor and designer was killed allegedly by a gunman who police say tore down a Delight flag exterior her enterprise and shot her after making homophobic remarks towards her.

Laura Ann Carleton, a married mom of 9 kids, was killed Friday exterior her clothes retailer in Cedar Glen, an unincorporated San Bernardino County neighborhood on the shores of Lake Arrowhead, based on an announcement from the San Bernardino County Sheriff’s Workplace.

The suspected killer, who’s now deceased, was recognized as Travis Ikeguchi, 27, Sheriff Shannon Dicus mentioned at a information convention on Monday night.

After allegedly taking pictures Carleton, the suspect fled the crime scene on foot, however was discovered by sheriff’s deputies a number of miles from her retailer, the place he was fatally shot in a confrontation, authorities mentioned. The sheriff’s workplace mentioned the assailant was armed with a handgun, which authorities mentioned Monday evening was a Smith & Wesson 9mm automated handgun, and refused orders to drop the weapon.

When deputies tried to apprehend the suspect, he reportedly shot at them they usually fired again. Regardless of utilizing lifesaving measures, the suspect died on the scene, the sheriff mentioned Monday.

No deputies had been injured in the course of the incident.

Carleton was gunned down exterior her retailer round 5 p.m. on Friday, based on the sheriff’s workplace.

The investigation is ongoing and the sheriff’s workplace shall be turning the case over to the district legal professional’s workplace.

“That is completely horrific. This disgusting hate has no place in CA,” California Gov. Gavin Newsom said in a social media post Sunday evening.

On her retailer’s web site, Carleton mentioned she started her profession within the vogue trade when she was a teen. She attended the ArtCenter School of Design in Pasadena, California, earlier than embarking on a profession in vogue design.

Ultimately, Carleton joined Kenneth Cole Productions virtually from its inception in 1982 and labored for the corporate for greater than 15 years, turning into an government, based on the web site.

Cole posted a statement on social media confirming Carleton had been a pal and a long-time affiliate of his firm. Cole referred to as Carleton’s slaying “an pointless and tragic loss of life.”

Whereas Carleton and her husband have a house within the Los Angeles neighborhood of Studio Metropolis, the couple owns a Twenties fisherman’s cabin on Lake Arrowhead, her retailer’s web site mentioned.

“With a penchant for longevity, she has been married to the identical man for 28 years and is the mom of a blended household of 9 kids, the youngest being an identical twin women,” based on Carleton’s web site.

The Lake Arrowhead LGBTQ group posted a message on its Fb web page honoring Carleton and describing her as a robust supporter of LGBTQ+ rights.

“At the moment was a really unhappy day for Lake Arrowhead and for the LGBTQ neighborhood. Our pal and supporter Lauri Carleton… was murdered defending her LGBTQ+ Delight flags in entrance of her retailer in Cedar Glen, California,” the group wrote in an announcement. “Lauri didn’t establish as LGBTQ+ however spent her time serving to & advocating for everybody locally. She shall be really missed.”

San Bernardino County Supervisor Daybreak Rowe additionally launched an announcement, saying, “This mindless act of hate and violence is unthinkable.”

“I stand with my mountain communities as we mourn this unbelievable loss,” Rowe mentioned. “Everybody deserves to reside freed from hate and discrimination, and apply their constitutional proper of freedom of speech. Lauri was a exceptional member of the neighborhood and I ship my deepest condolences to her household on this time of grief.”

Paul Feig — director of such motion pictures as “Bridesmaids, “The Warmth” and the 2016 remake of “Ghostbusters” — mentioned in a social media put up that Carleton was a pal.

“She was a beautiful one that did a lot for the LGBTQ+ neighborhood in addition to the neighborhood at massive,” Feig wrote on X, previously generally known as Twitter. “What occurred to her is an absolute tragedy. If folks do not assume anti-gay & trans rhetoric is not harmful, assume once more.”

Actress Bridget Everett — of the HBO Max sequence “Any person Someplace” — additionally mourned Carleton in a put up on Instagram, saying it was not the primary encounter Carleton confronted over displaying the Delight flag.

“Prior to now, when somebody took down her flag or vandalized it, she’d put up one other one,” Everett mentioned in her put up, which was accompanied by a photograph of Carleton. “The final time I noticed Lauri was, oddly sufficient, at Lake Arrowhead Delight each within the parade after which at a celebration. All that anti-LGBTQ rhetoric has a value. And now, Lauri’s husband Bort, her daughters, buddies and neighborhood are devastated. And for what?”

The gun allegedly used within the taking pictures was not registered to Ikeguchi, nor was he a hid weapon holder, the sheriff mentioned Monday evening. The day earlier than the incident, his household had reported him lacking. The suspect was not on the radar of authorities earlier than the incident.

The taking pictures got here amid an increase in anti-LGBTQ+ extremism throughout the nation that has led to protests, threats and violence towards the neighborhood.

A report this 12 months by the Anti-Defamation League and the LGBTQ+ group GLAAD exhibits there have been greater than 350 incidents of harassment, vandalism or assault from June 2022 to April 2023, which the report says coincides with a rise in rhetoric and laws concentrating on the LGBTQ+ neighborhood.

ABC Information’ Jolie Lash contributed to this story.