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More than 400 people have donated upwards of $40,000 for the husband of a beloved Chicago gay community member, who prosecutors say was gunned down by his spouse’s ex-partner after years of alleged harassment and stalking claims that had previously reached the courts.
The killing of Nicholas “Pup Tugger” Calzaretta, 37, has shaken Chicago’s LGBTQ+ leather and pup communities and intensified scrutiny over the limits of protective orders in cases involving escalating threats and intimate partner violence.
The morning Calzaretta was killed, his dog would not leave him.
Neighbors watched from behind police tape as officers flooded a quiet residential block in Chicago’s Edgewater neighborhood. Children were arriving at nearby schools. And beside Calzaretta’s body, witnesses later told the Chicago Sun-Times, the dog remained in place after prosecutors say a man with ties to the victim’s personal life chased him down and opened fire.
In the days since the shooting, grief has rippled through Chicago’s LGBTQ+ community and beyond. More than 400 people have donated upwards of $40,000 to support Calzaretta’s surviving husband, Cam Prather, according to a GoFundMe fundraiser that has become part memorial, part communal outcry.
The death of Calzaretta, 37, has also sharpened attention on a haunting detail buried in court records. According to reporting from the Chicago Sun-Times, Calzaretta previously sought a protective order against the man now accused of killing him.
Calzaretta was widely known in Chicago’s leather and pup communities as “Pup Tugger.” According to Windy City Times, he was a founding member of Windy City Pups & Handlers, a community group that fostered social connection and chosen family among queer Chicagoans.
In a Facebook statement, the organization described Calzaretta as a foundational presence in the group’s culture and identity.
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Windy City Pups and Handlers
“From the very beginning, he helped make this community what it is, not through grand gestures, but through his endless warmth, his kindness, and the kind of upbeat spirit that made everyone around him feel at home,” the group wrote.
According to prosecutors, Calzaretta was walking his dog shortly before 7:20 a.m. May 14 when 53-year-old Ammar Houssamo approached him.
Witnesses told investigators Calzaretta yelled “leave me alone” and tried to flee before he was shot multiple times, according to prosecutors. Authorities allege Houssamo then turned the gun on himself but survived.
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Windy City Times reported that Houssamo has been charged with first-degree murder and aggravated unlawful possession of a weapon. Police recovered two firearms from the scene, according to the publication.
According to the Chicago Sun-Times, court filings from 2023 accused Houssamo of repeatedly harassing Calzaretta amid divorce proceedings involving Calzaretta’s eventual husband. The filings described alleged unwanted contact through social media, dating platforms, and Calzaretta’s workplace. The protective order was later vacated in 2024, the newspaper reported.
The GoFundMe page created after the shooting captures the scale of communal grief surrounding Calzaretta’s death. Organizers described him as “a truly remarkable person whose kindness, generosity, and gentle spirit touched everyone who knew him.”
