Pride Flag Gunman Had History of Anti-LGBTQ Posts

The alleged gunman who fatally shot a California boutique owner over a rainbow Pride flag had a history of making anti-LGBTQ comments on social media.

Authorities on Monday identified the suspect as Travis Ikeguchi, 27, who was killed in a shootout with sheriff’s deputies after he shot and killed Laura Ann Carleton outside of her Mag.Pi. clothing shop in Cedar Glen, California.

Ikeguchi tore down the Pride flag that Carleton had on display outside her business Friday and shouted “many homophobic slurs” at her when she confronted him. He then shot her, San Bernardino County Sheriff’s officials said Monday.

Several witnesses called 911, but the 66-year-old community fixture died at the scene as Ikeguchi fled.

When deputies caught up with him about a mile from the store, Ikeguchi opened fire on multiple squad cars, San Bernardino County Sheriff Shannon Dicus said. Ikeguchi was fatally struck when the officers returned fire. No deputies were injured.

According to the New York Post, Ikeguchi frequently posted anti-LGBTQ and anti-abortion remarks on social media platform X and Gab.

He was reported missing by his family a day before the shooting.

“What to do with the [Pride] flag?” Ikeguchi wrote above a photo of a burning rainbow flag on X in June. The post was pinned to his profile, which Dicus confirmed was Ikeguchi’s.

In a post on his now-defunct Gab page, Ikeguchi shared an illustration of a Pride flag on fire and challenged others to share his post.

“We need to STOP COMPROMISING on this LGBT dictatorship…True followers of Christ SHOULD NOT and NEVER TOLERATE this stupid indoctrination of LGBT agenda in marriage or in our own businesses,” he said. “…Who has the courage to post this and feel no shame of it!?”

Dicus said Ikeguchi was not known to police before Friday’s shooting. The semiautomatic handgun used was not registered to Ikeguchi and he was not licensed to carry a concealed weapon, Dicus said.

The investigation into the shooting is ongoing.

Carleton, who preferred to be called “Lauri,” is survived by her husband and nine children in a blended family.

According to an LGBTQ organization in nearby Lake Arrowhead, Carleton did not identify as a member of the LGBTQ community but was an unwavering advocate.

The Post reported the outside of her shop had been turned into a makeshift memorial, with friends, family and community members leaving flowers and Pride flags outside the glass door marked by a single bullet hole.

“Thank you for standing up for what’s right,” one person wrote in a note left among roses and sunflowers.