In the early morning hours of May 18, 2025, a residence on Michigan Street in Hammond, Indiana, became the scene of a violent altercation that left two men dead. Responders were dispatched to the 500 block of the street around 4:26 a.m., where they discovered two men with multiple gunshot wounds. One of the victims was identified as 23-year-old Gary J. Shanklin, a Black/African American male from the neighboring city of East Chicago.
The second man was later identified as 29-year-old Montelle DeMarco Lang. Both men were pronounced dead at the scene, and their deaths were ruled as homicides by the Lake County Coroner's Office based on preliminary autopsy results showing fatal gunshot wounds.
The Hammond Police Department immediately launched a double-homicide investigation into the shooting. The inquiry soon pointed to a dispute that had occurred inside the Michigan Street apartment. Investigators determined that the violence stemmed from a fight connected to a woman's new boyfriend. This confrontation ultimately escalated to the fatal shooting of Shanklin and Lang.
In early June 2025, a breakthrough in the case was announced as prosecutors filed charges against 29-year-old Anthoney Terrell Hakim Smothers in connection with the killings of both Gary Shanklin and Montelle Lang. An online booking log from Lake County, Indiana, dated June 3, 2025, confirms the arrest of an individual named Anthoney Terrell Hakim Smothers. Court proceedings were reported to be ongoing following the arrest.
