In the quiet Montavilla neighborhood of Portland, Oregon, the evening of October 2, 2015, took a tragic turn. Anthony Michael Howard, a 42-year-old Caucasian male, found himself in the parking lot of the Hour Glass Pub & Eatery on Northeast Glisan Street. What began as a disagreement between strangers escalated with shocking suddenness, shattering the peace of the night with the sound of gunfire.
In the ensuing chaos, Howard was shot multiple times.
When the violence subsided, two men lay dead, and a third was wounded. Anthony Michael Howard, known to his loved ones as a protector with a larger-than-life presence, was one of the fatalities. He was not the only one to lose his life that night; another man, Eric Jacob Takemoto, was also killed. The incident, which was not believed to be gang-related, stemmed from a senseless argument that tragically escalated to murder. Friends and family remembered Howard as a man who had turned his life around after a stint in boot camp in his youth, and for the past two decades had been a loving and devoted family man.
In the aftermath of the shooting, law enforcement began their investigation. It wasn't long before a suspect was apprehended. The individual taken into custody was reportedly a stranger to the victims and had been scheduled for sentencing on unrelated criminal charges just days after the fatal shooting. The suspect was arraigned on multiple charges, including aggravated murder, attempted murder, and unlawful possession of a weapon, leaving a community to grapple with a senseless act of violence that claimed the lives of two men and forever altered the lives of their families.
