Gay Bar Shooting Suspect Charged
A man charged with killing one man and wounding six others in a gay bar was arraigned Monday on a first-degree murder charge.
In a week a grand jury will consider additional charges, such as malicious wounding, against 53-year-old Ronald Gay, according to Roanoke Commonwealth's Attorney Donald Caldwell.
Police say Gay headed for the Back Street Cafe after asking someone in a different bar where the "gay" bar was, saying he wanted to "shoot some gay people."
A witness pointed him in the right direction, then called police.
Police told CBS News witnesses report Gay had been making similar threats for a couple of days.
Seven people were shot in the incident. Forty-three-year-old Danny Overstreet died at the scene. Three of the remaining six victims are still hospitalized.
Gay told police after his arrest that he was upset by jokes about his last name.
According to investigators, Gay had an ID from Citrus Springs, Florida, but had been living in Roanoke for about a year.
David Smith of the Human Rights Campaign, a gay and lesbian advocacy group, said he's saddened by the Roanoke incident, but hardly surprised police weren't told of Gay's previous threats until it was too late.
Smith said he wondered when people will finally get the message that gays are a threat to no one, and stop anti-gay violence.
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