Each time somebody ripped down the rainbow Satisfaction flag from the Magazine.Pi clothes retailer within the San Bernardino mountains in California, the shop’s proprietor, Laura Ann Carleton, responded by placing up a much bigger one.
Ms. Carleton, 66, didn’t waver in her assist of L.G.B.T.Q. folks.
Round 5 p.m. on Friday, she was fatally shot by a person who made disparaging remarks in regards to the store’s Satisfaction flag, the authorities mentioned.
The person, whose identification has not been launched, fled the scene on foot. Deputies discovered him with a handgun, and he was killed in an encounter with legislation enforcement, the San Bernardino County Sheriff’s Division said in a statement.
The division mentioned that “detectives discovered the suspect made a number of disparaging remarks a few rainbow flag that stood exterior the shop earlier than taking pictures Carleton.”
It was unclear whether or not the taking pictures was being investigated as a hate crime, and extra particulars of what preceded the assault weren’t out there on Sunday. Sheriff’s Division officers weren’t instantly out there to remark.
The taking pictures — in Cedar Glen, close to Lake Arrowhead — got here a few month after the Anti-Defamation League and the L.G.B.T.Q. advocacy group GLAAD launched a report indicating a recent rise in anti-L.G.B.T.Q. harassment, vandalism or assault in the USA.
Ms. Carleton’s daughter Ari Carleton, 28, mentioned that her mom was “fearless” and put the wants of others forward of her personal. Ms. Carleton had been a pillar in the neighborhood, she added.
When a rare blizzard struck the area this yr, Ms. Carleton, whose given title was Laura however who glided by Lauri, and her husband, Bort Carleton, transformed her store right into a aid middle.
“She opened up a free store the place she and my dad simply gave out provides to these in want who had been impacted by the storms,” Ari Carleton mentioned in a telephone interview on Sunday, including, “That basically sums up who she was as an individual.”
Ms. Carleton preached “love, acceptance and equality,” her daughter mentioned, and people values have been mirrored in her retailer, Mag.Pi, the place she carried a group of personally curated, high-quality and ethically sourced garments, and generally her personal designs.
Paul Feig, the movie director, was a buddy of Ms. Carleton’s. He would have dinner with Ms. Carleton and buddies on his visits to Lake Arrowhead.
“She was only a drive of nature,” Mr. Feig mentioned, including, “She simply actually cared about folks.”
The Satisfaction flag hanging exterior Magazine.Pi was eliminated quite a few occasions by completely different folks for the reason that retailer opened two years in the past, Ari Carleton mentioned.
The shop is listed as a “business ally” by Lake Arrowhead LGBTQ+, a group group.
“Lauri didn’t establish as LGBTQ+, however spent her time serving to & advocating for everybody in the neighborhood,” the group said on Facebook. “She might be really missed.”
The group is planning a vigil for Ms. Carleton as soon as the specter of Tropical Storm Hilary clears.
She is survived by her husband and 9 kids.
“I simply need the world to recollect her for who she was,” Ari Carleton mentioned. “And that she handed away in a spot that she cherished, doing what she liked and defending one thing that was so essential to her.”
At Ms. Carleton’s Lake Arrowhead residence after the taking pictures, her household opened a package deal that had been left on the doorstep.
The flag on the retailer had begun to fade, Ari Carleton mentioned. Her mom had ordered a brand new one.
