A dispute over an LGBTQ+ pride flag at a California clothing store spiraled into deadly violence this weekend when a man shot and killed the 66-year-old business owner right in front of her shop, authorities said.
The man ran away from the store after the shooting Friday night but was later found and killed in a confrontation with officers from the San Bernardino County Sheriff’s Department.
The agency said Laura Ann Carleton was pronounced dead at Mag.Pi, the store she owned and operated in Cedar Glen. The small community in the San Bernadino Mountains is roughly 60 miles (96 kilometers) east of downtown Los Angeles.
Before the shooting, the man “made several disparaging remarks about a rainbow flag that stood outside the store,” sheriff's officials said.
It was not immediately clear what happened when officers confronted the man, whose identity hadn't been released as of Sunday.
Carleton, who preferred to be called “Lauri,” is survived by her husband and nine children in a blended family.
An LGBTQ group in nearby Lake Arrowhead said Carleton didn’t identify as a member of the LGBTQ+ community. But she spent time helping and advocating for everyone, and was defending her Pride flags placed in front of her shop on the night of the shooting, the group said.
There was an outpouring of support on social media over the weekend, with commenters expressing shock and sadness on the store's accounts. Many included rainbow flag emojis.
Law enforcement agencies in several states have investigated the destruction of rainbow Pride flags as potential hate crimes in recent years.
The City of Minneapolis is paying nearly $9 million to settle two misconduct lawsuits against former officer Derek Chauvin before he murdered George Floyd.
Dylan Lemay is the owner of CATCH’N Ice Cream, an ice cream shop in downtown Manhattan providing a "first-of-its-kind" interactive experience. The space is centered around a massive cold slab countertop, where staff chop, fold, and throw Dylan’s signature ice cream balls to customers. Having trouble imagining that? Lemay stopped by the Cheddar News' studios to demonstrate.
It's Friday and that means it's time for Cheddar Paws. The ASPCA has about 3.2 million cats in animal shelters nationwide, and a spokesperson for the organization stopped by the Cheddar News' studios to show off two of them: kittens and litter mates Debonair and Samari.
A new Pew study shows that men and women are making about the same amount of money in their careers, but women are picking up a heavier load when it comes to housework and caregiving.
A Massachusetts Air National Guardsman has appeared in court, accused in the leak of highly classified military documents.
Thieves may not have been counting on finding a mountain of change when they broke into a truck filled with $750,000 in dimes, but they still made off with a chunk of the cargo and left coins scattered around a Philadelphia parking lot, authorities said.
Every New York City mayor has waged war — and mostly lost — against one of humanity’s most cunning and enduring foe: rattus norvegicus. But has the city’s vilest enemy, better known as the common brown rat, finally met its match?
A Massachusetts Air National Guard member has been arrested in connection with the disclosure of highly classified military documents about the Ukraine war and other top national security issues.
The legislation would ban abortions after a period when many women don't know they're pregnant yet.
The attorney general's new restrictions on gender-affirming care is believed to be the first that also restricts adults, not just minors.
