Hollywood director Paul Feig says he is devastated after his friend was shot and killed following a dispute over a rainbow Pride flag displayed outside her shop.
The Bridesmaids filmmaker said “intolerance” of the LGBTQ+ community “has to end” – following the fatal shooting in Cedar Glen, California on Friday.
Laura Ann Carleton, 66, was found with a bullet wound at her Mag Pi clothing shop, after police were called to reports of a shooting.
The suspect had made “several disparaging remarks about a rainbow flag that stood outside the store before shooting Carleton”, according to the San Bernardino County Sheriff’s department.
The unidentified 27-year-old man, who fled the scene armed with a shotgun, was later fatally shot after a confrontation with officers, authorities said.
In a tribute post, Feig – who also created comedy Freaks And Geeks – wrote: “Our wonderful friend Lauri Carlton (seen in this picture) was murdered yesterday in her store @magpi_shop in Lake Arrowhead by a 27-year-old man who didn’t like that she had a large pride flag hanging outside of her shop.
“He ripped it down and when she confronted him about it he shot and killed her.”
He said he was “devastated” for her husband Bort, and her family, adding: “This intolerance has to end.
“Anyone using hateful language against the LGBTQ+ community has to realize their words matter, that their words can inspire violence against innocent loving people.
“Let’s all keep moving forward with tolerance and love. Let’s not let Lauri’s tragic death be in vain”.
Author and actress Jill Kargman said she was “furious” and “enraged” by what she called a “senseless murder,” writing: “What a tragedy of our times- the hatred and the guns.”
Ms Carleton, who was known as Lauri, did not identify as LGBTQ+, “but spent her time helping and advocating for everyone in the community”, according to the Lake Arrowhead LGBTQ group who paid tribute to her on their Instagram page.
‘Every shop should hang a flag to honour brave wife and mother’
Actor Timothy Omundson wrote: “It is so horrific that an expression of love and support for a marginalized community, should lead to such radicalized hatred and violence.
“Every shop in Arrowhead village should hang a pride flag to honour this brave wife and mother.”
‘Her daughters are devastated’
Comedian and actress Bridget Everett, 51, also paid tribute to her late friend, writing: “In the past, when someone took down her flag or vandalised it, she’d put up another one.
“The last time I saw Lauri was, oddly enough, at Lake Arrowhead pride both in the parade and then at a party.
“All that anti-LGBTQ rhetoric has a price. And now, Lauri’s husband Bort, her daughters, friends and community are devastated. And for what?”
Ms Carleton had been married to her husband for 28 years and was the mother of a “blended family of nine children”, with the youngest being identical twin girls, according to her clothes shop website.
Her biography says she began working in fashion as a teenager, before attending the Art Center School of Design.
A globetrotter, who had travelled the US, Europe and South America, the site says the inspiration to set up her own shop was all “about tackling everyday life with grace and ease and continuing to dream”.
