The man investigators say killed California store owner Laura Ann Carleton over a pride flag had a history of hateful, violent messages online. And the gun he was carrying wasn't his raising a lot of questions about how this happened.
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00:00 The latest now on that shooting,
00:01 the authorities believe was tied to a
00:04 pride flag a man suspected of shooting
00:06 and killing the local clothing store owner.
00:08 She displayed that pride flag in her window.
00:10 The 27 year old suspect allegedly
00:12 shot the woman after an argument
00:14 over the flag before fleeing.
00:16 Sheriff's deputies in San Bernardino
00:18 later shooting and killing the
00:20 suspected gunman over the weekend.
00:21 Scripps News James Packard has more.
00:24 What I really just want people to know
00:27 is just how selfless and kind
00:30 and compassionate she was.
00:31 The daughter of Laura Ann Carlton,
00:34 the woman targeted in what's being
00:36 investigated as a possible hate
00:38 crime over a pride flag,
00:40 remembering her mother for the
00:42 very thing that got her killed.
00:44 She was so fearless and any negative reaction.
00:47 You know, she just powered through.
00:49 The flags had been torn down before
00:52 by different individuals and she
00:54 always went and ordered an even
00:56 larger flag in response and put it up so.
01:00 You know I. I admire her and I'm so
01:04 proud of her and I know that she
01:06 passed standing up for something
01:08 that she believed in the identified
01:11 shooter Travis Higuchi was killed in
01:13 a shootout with sheriff's deputies.
01:15 He posted hateful anti LGBTQ
01:17 content on social media,
01:18 including this tweet pinned
01:19 to the top of his account.
01:22 Investigators determined prior to
01:23 the shooting that Higuchi tore
01:25 a rainbow flag that was hanging
01:27 in front of the magpie store.
01:29 And yelled many homophobic
01:30 slurs toward Carlton.
01:31 The account was also littered
01:33 with anti police content,
01:34 even though the shooter said his
01:36 own father was in law enforcement.
01:38 The Independent reporting he's a
01:40 decorated state trooper in Florida.
01:41 A tweet in 2019 promoted a go fund me,
01:44 accusing his father of leaving him and
01:47 his mother quote homeless in a divorce.
01:49 It could Gucci fired on law enforcement
01:51 who confronted him after the shooting.
01:53 Investigators continue to investigate
01:55 Higuchi's motivation and the
01:56 circumstances surrounding this event.
01:58 The firearm use was not registered
02:00 to the suspect and Higuchi is not
02:02 a concealed carry weapons holder.
02:04 Those details prompting questions
02:06 about how the shooter got ahold of
02:08 the gun, leaving a family to pick up
02:11 the pieces the store now and she
02:13 has another store down in LA.
02:15 So many supporters and to remember
02:17 her impact on strangers on old friends,
02:20 including one who Laura Ann Carlton
02:22 impacted profoundly, even if she'll
02:24 never know it, she messaged us this
02:26 morning to let us know that she had
02:29 driven past my mom store a couple of
02:32 weeks ago and seen the pride flag.
02:34 And that gave her the courage and the
02:37 push to go home and come out to her family.
02:41 And that really resonated with us.
02:43 And I know that's really all that my mom
02:46 wanted was for everybody here to feel
02:48 safe and loved and accepted. James
02:50 accepted. James Packard, Scripps News, Los Angeles.