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1 Dead, Six Wounded in a Roanoke, Virginia Gay Bar

Killer Named 'Gay' Pulls Gun on 4 Women and 3 Men

Murderer's Anguish over Name may have Ignited Crime

Compiled By GayToday

Roanoke, Virginia�A hard-drinking 53-year old Vietnam War veteran sporting a Marine Corps tattoo and alleged to suffer post traumatic stress disorder, walked into the Backstreet Caf� here Friday night and opened fire, killing Danny Lee Overstreet, 43, and wounding four women and two men. The suspected killer, arrested shortly afterwards, is said to be Ronald Edward Gay.

Gay's fifth former wife, a Florida resident, told The Roanoke Times that Gay had often complained about his name, saying that it should mean "happy" and not "homosexual." Earlier in the day Gay had asked directions to a local gay bar.

Gay had also spent part of Friday watching a group of Christian singers in Elmwood Park, a Bible at his side. "Death rides a pale horse," he told a bystander as horseback riding police passed. The bystander told reporters he'd simply assumed that Gay was quoting the Book of Revelations.

The man murdered by Gay, Danny Lee Overstreet, was well-loved by both family and friends who remembered him as humorous and easy-going. Overstreet's anguished mother wept, "He's my youngest, my baby!"

Witnesses said Gay fired at least eight rounds, sending customers ducking for cover. Overstreet, who was sitting near the killer, took bullets to the chest and fell to the floor where he died within minutes.

Gay was discovered by police two blocks from the bar, unarmed. He'd disposed of his gun because, as he later explained, he had no wish to hurt any officers of the law.

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Related Sites:
Anti-Violence Project

The Roankoke Times

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The National Gay and Lesbian Task Force condemned the shooting and called on Congress to stop ignoring crimes of violence and intimidation against the nation's gay, lesbian, bisexual and transgender population.

Earlier in the evening, police said Gay had visited a different bar and had told witnesses that he wanted to shoot some gay people. A witness pointed him in the right direction, then called police. Police are investigating Friday night's shootings as a hate crime.

Shirley Lesser, spokeswoman for Virginians For Justice, said the lack of a strong hate crimes law inclusive of sexual orientation on both the state and federal levels "sends the message that violence directed against gay people is not as serious as violence committed against other Virginians."

"Virginians For Justice offers our heartfelt condolences to the family and friends of Danny Overstreet, tragically shot and killed late last evening in Roanoke, Virginia," Lesser said.

"To those who were injured during the shooting we send our concern and support. Our hearts go out to the entire Roanoke lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender community and their familiesand friends."

Of Virginia's two senators, one--Democrat Chuck Robb � has voted for hate crimes legislation, while the other - Republican John Warner--has voted against hate crimes legislation. Virginia's hate crimes law does not include sexual orientation, and proposals to add sexual orientation to the law repeatedly have been defeated by the Virginia General Assembly.