Shop owner killed over Pride flag display outside her California store

globalnews.ca:

California was killed Friday after a dispute over an LGBTQ2 Pride flag displayed outside her shop spiralled into deadly violence, police said. Online tributes have poured in to honour the late businesswoman, who was a beloved figure in her local community.A man shot and killed 66-year-old Laura Ann Carleton right in front of her clothing store in Cedar Glen, a small community in the San Bernadino Mountains, east of Los Angeles.The man “made several disparaging remarks about a rainbow flag that stood outside the store before shooting Carleton,” according to a statement from the San Bernadino County Sheriff’s Department.Carleton was pronounced dead by medical personnel outside Mag.Pi, the clothing store she owned and operated.The man fled the scene on foot after the shooting Friday afternoon, but police eventually located him and he was killed in a confrontation with officers.

He was still armed with a handgun when police attempted to contact him.Further details about the unnamed man, and the “lethal force encounter” that left him dead, were not released by police.Carleton, who went by the name “Lauri,” was the mother of a blended family of nine children, according to her biography on the Mag.Pi website. She is also survived by her husband of 28 years.An LGBTQ2 advocacy group in nearby Lake Arrowhead is helping to organize a vigil in Carleton’s honour.