Friends: Tucson shooting victim used camera to document injustices

For the past three years, Capara was a central figure in Tucson’s community of social justice photographers documenting everything from community protests against the wars in Gaza and Iran to the recent rash of ICE immigration raids.

“He found that sharing and documenting what was happening was a really great way for him to really make an impact,” Tucson photographer Julius Schlosburg recalled of his longtime friend, who was killed early Monday when a gunman disrupted the quiet of the Tucson gay bar Venture-N on North Sixth Avenue.

Police said Ousman Ceesay, 44, shot and killed Capara, 33, and Vincent Anthony Siqueiros, 42, in the bar’s parking lot at about 12:30 a.m. Monday before turning the gun on himself. Ceesay carried a note with several LGBTQIA+ associated businesses written on it, said police, who are investigating the shooting as a hate crime. Ceesay later died of his wounds at a hospital.

A community vigil was scheduled for 6:30 p.m. Wednesday at Catalina Park, 941 N. Fourth Ave.

Schlosburg said Capara had been documenting social justice protests for about three years with a number of local photographers who were part of the informal Tucson Movement Photographers.

“He was ever present at all the most important protests and rallies and marches,” said Kathleen Dreier, a professional event and portrait photographer who worked alongside Capara at the May 2024 student-led pro-Palestinian encampment on the University of Arizona campus. “Most of us do it because if not, it wouldn't get covered in the way that it needs to be covered. There's a large contingency of us photographers that this is what we do, and Cameron was a principled one in that.”

“That was his single focus, to build a better world,” said his friend Drew Fellows. “He had so much passion and love and care. … Justice was his moral compass. Palestine was his moral compass.”

With a bald head and full beard, and standing over 6 feet tall, Capara, who grew up in Tucson and graduated from Salpointe High School in 2011, struck an imposing figure at local protests. But until Schlosburg suggested he bring his camera, Capara had never merged his passion for social justice with his passion for photography.

“I asked him why he didn’t bring his camera and he was like, ‘I didn't know if it was appropriate, you know, so I just didn't bring it,’” Schlosburg recalled.

“He was already a really amazing photographer and he was someone who cared really deeply about what was going on,” said Schlosburg, who met Capara a dozen years ago when Capara worked at a Tucson computer store. 

Capara posted his videos and photos, including images of Tucson nightlife, on his Instagram accounts — @theninjaferret and @my_life_is_a_darkroom, where he quickly garnered a big following. He often would live-stream protests in addition to photographing them, which gave him a chance to explain what was happening in real time, Schlosburg said.

“There were people all over the country, all over the world, who followed him. People who were in Gaza … followed Cameron,” Schlosburg said. “It makes them feel like the world hasn't forgotten them.”

Capara had a similar impact in Tucson, including his outreach with students during the tumultuous early days of the war in Gaza.

“He had the availability and the absolute talent to capture the political moment and the political energy of the students on campus,” said Jocelyn Garcia, who met Capara during the campuswide pro-Palestinian protests in 2024. “When we were organizing those actions, we knew we could count on Cameron. We didn’t even have to ask.”

Capara’s mother, Berni Capara, in a response to a Facebook post by Dreier late Monday, said her son “was a truly good person who never judged.”

“His love for photography was great and he used it to document his passion for social justice,” she wrote. “… He would always tell us he would be famous someday for his work.”

Berni Capara could not be reached for additional comment. Several family members contacted through social media also did not respond.

Schlosburg said Cameron Capara’s work over the past few years “gave our stories life” and “took them from these fleeting moments in the street, where we make sound and then it immediately disappears, and it's like so temporal … and Cameron solidified that for so many people and groups and communities.”

He said Capara approached people with an open heart and saw them for who they were.

“I'm struggling to imagine what it's going to be like showing up to a rally and him not being there,” Schlosburg said, quietly sobbing. “He was just this calm, grounding presence. We all had this experience of seeing Cameron and just giving him a big hug and receiving a big hug back. He was someone who brought joy and light around him.”