Update 10:25 a.m. Monday
ANACONDA - Bond was set at $1 million Monday morning for a man accused of shooting and killing an Anaconda bar owner.
Mark Ray Lock, 61 of Anaconda, was charged with deliberate homicide in connection with the fatal shooting on Saturday evening.
Lock is accused of shooting Shane Charles inside Carmel’s Bar and Grill at 6:50 p.m. Charles was the owner of the bar.
Lock made his initial appearance in Anaconda Justice Court.
According to court documents, Lock was sitting at the bar Saturday evening and walked over to Charles, who was sitting at the other end of the bar.
After a brief conversation, Lock allegedly pulled out a handgun and shot Charles once.
Another patron in the bar struggled with Lock and was able to disarm him, the complaint states. Lock ran from the bar, and police arrested him later that evening.
While being interviewed by police, Lock refused to answer questions and requested an attorney, according to the complaint.
Police allege Lock asked what he was being charged with and when told deliberate homicide, he replied, 'He died,' and placed his head in his hands, according to court documents.
He then allegedly asked to be returned to his cell.
Lock’s Birch Street neighbor told MTN News Monday she was shocked to learn he was charged in connection with this terrible crime.
“He would come out and shovel my sidewalk here and here for me, he would wipe the snow off my vehicle. He was helpful, he was nice, so I just don’t understand,” Victoria Vandenboom said.
She also heartbroken by the death of Charles, whom she used to work for and said was a very good employer.
“Full of life, full of goals, full of ambition. So, it’s really hard, the loss of Shane going to be really hard in this community, because a lot of people know him,” Vandenboom said of Charles.
- Reporting by John Emeigh
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Original Report
ANACONDA - The owner of an Anaconda bar has been identified as the victim of a fatal shooting.
According to a social media post by Carmel's Sports Bar and Grill, obituary and funeral services are pending for Shane Charles.
Charles was killed on Saturday evening, the second bar shooting in the small Montana town in less than a year.
Four people were shot and killed in August of 2025 at The Owl Bar, located just a block away from the most recent shooting.
The man accused of the shooting at the Owl Bar was arrested after a weeklong manhunt and is awaiting trial.
Authorities have said a suspect was taken into custody following the most recent shooting, but few details have so far been released.
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