Californian Lauri Carleton was killed for raising the Pride flag. Now her family is honoring her

Ten months have passed since a gunman shot and killed a 66-year-old mother of nine over a Pride flag outside her store. Her family and community are honoring her memory this Pride month.

Laura Ann “Lauri” Carleton regularly displayed a rainbow flag outside her clothing store, Mag.Pi, in Lake Arrowhead, California. Her daughter, Ari Carleton, told The New York Times in 2023 that every time someone tore down the rainbow flag in front of the store, her mother responded by hanging a larger one.

On Aug. 18, 2023, a 27-year-old man entered the store, made derogatory remarks about the flag and “yelled many homophobic slurs toward (Lauri) Carleton,” San Bernardino County Sheriff Shannon Dicus said in a press conference last year.

The man then opened fire, shooting Lauri Carleton and running away, officials said at the time. The suspect, Travis Ikeguchi, died in a shootout with police that day. Officials later discovered that Ikeguchi had made several anti-LGBTQ and anti-police posts on his social media.

Lauri Carleton died in her shop, leaving behind her nine children and her husband Bort.

In a recent interview with NBC Los Angeles, Lauri Carleton’s daughters Kelsey and Ari Carleton spoke about their late mother and her lifelong support of the LGBTQIA+ community.

“She was just a champion of equality, and that was all she ever fought for and all she wanted,” Kelsey Carleton told the station. “She didn’t want anyone to feel left out.”

Ari Carleton said she has learned a lot from her mother over the years, including “being independent and strong.”

“But she also taught me to stand up for myself and others,” she said.

Lauri Carleton trained as a fashion designer at a young age and has worked with big names like Fred Segal and Kenneth Cole. She opened her first Mag.Pi boutique in Studio City, California in 2013. She opened her second boutique in 2021 near Lake Arrowhead, where she lived off and on for 20 years.

“She was so interested in supporting this community because it was her community,” Ari Carleton said. “It said everyone was welcome here, and by everyone, I mean everyone.”

When Lake Arrowhead’s annual Pride celebration kicks off on June 28, the community will celebrate Lauri Carleton. A welcoming party will include a champagne toast in her honor.

Her family and friends are working to continue her vision of a more inclusive world by establishing a memorial fund in her name to raise money for local inclusive initiatives in the Lake Arrowhead area.

And in Lauri Carleton’s business, her daughters are now in charge and continuing their mother’s legacy.

And they definitely raised the Pride flag.

“We obviously stand behind our mother, we agree with everything she stood for,” Kelsey Carleton told NBC Los Angeles. “We continue to hold those flags high because we strongly believe in them too.” “She wouldn’t back down,” Ari Carleton said. “And we won’t either.”