The proprietor of a clothes retailer in southern California was killed after an argument a couple of rainbow Satisfaction flag hanging exterior the enterprise, deputies mentioned.
Laura Ann “Lauri” Carleton, 66, was discovered affected by a gunshot wound Friday night at her retailer Magazine.Pi in Cedar Glen, simply east of Lake Arrowhead, a information launch from the San Bernardino County Sheriff’s Division mentioned. She was pronounced lifeless on the scene.
“Via additional investigation, detectives discovered the suspect made a number of disparaging remarks a couple of rainbow flag that stood exterior the shop earlier than taking pictures Carleton,” the discharge mentioned.
The suspect, who hasn’t been recognized by investigators, ran away after the taking pictures and was later discovered a couple of mile away, nonetheless armed, deputies mentioned.
“When deputies tried to contact the suspect, a deadly pressure encounter occurred and the suspect was pronounced deceased,” the sheriff’s division mentioned. “No deputies have been injured throughout the incident.”
The taking pictures comes because the LGBTQ+ group faces ongoing threats of violence and “an unprecedented wave of anti-LGBTQ+ laws in 2023,” in response to the Human Rights Marketing campaign.
“LGBTQ+ People reside in a state of emergency. The multiplying threats going through thousands and thousands in our group usually are not simply perceived – they’re actual, tangible and harmful,” the group’s president, Kelley Robinson, mentioned in June when it declared a nationwide state of emergency for the group.
“That is completely horrific,” California Gov. Gavin Newsom mentioned in a social media post concerning the taking pictures. “This disgusting hate has no place in (California),” he mentioned.
Carleton didn’t establish as LGBTQ+ however advocated for “everybody in the neighborhood,” the group Lake Arrowhead LGBTQ+ mentioned in a press release. “She will probably be really missed.”
Carleton and her husband shared “a blended household of 9 kids,” the shop’s web site mentioned.
Cedar Glen, a mountain group within the San Bernardino Nationwide Forest, is about 80 miles east of Los Angeles.
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