Makiki neighbors mourn loss of ‘giving person’

Residents along a dense Makiki cul-de-sac were in mourning Sunday, a day after a beloved neighbor was gunned down just feet from her front door, leaving residents to wonder why she was targeted.

Gloria Takaoka, 71, lived in Apartment 6, a second-floor unit at 1067 Green St., for about five decades and spent her days sweeping up open areas around several apartment complexes along the street and greeting other neighbors to spread her happiness, said neighbor Robert Barros.

“She’s got a really nice personality. She’s a very likable person,” he said. “She’s just basically a giving person.”

Barros, 79, said the shooter didn’t get along with anybody and probably would have shot at anyone.

Barros said that at about 2:45 p.m. Saturday, a man shot Takaoka under a mango tree near her door, then shot at Barros twice when he went outside to investigate.

Barros said the shooter was Ernest Romero, Takaoka’s downstairs neighbor.

Police said responding officers found Takaoka’s body with what appeared to be multiple gunshot wounds. She was taken to a nearby hospital where she died.

Police said Romero turned himself in less than an hour later at the main police station on South Beretania Street. He was booked on suspicion of second-degree murder, second-degree attempted murder and two firearm offenses. He doesn’t have any major convictions, according to state records.

George Cabral, who lives in the same complex, said he heard the shooting and looked out a window to see Romero standing next to his vehicle, waiving a semi-automatic handgun as he looked around the apartment complex. He said Romero fired at Barros, then got into his vehicle and pulled into a parking stall. He saw Ro­mero call someone on his cellphone and chat briefly before pulling out of the driveway and leaving.

When Cabral went outside, he saw Takaoka lying on the ground barely moving and a police officer performing CPR on her. He said Romero was known to be argumentative and unstable, but he didn’t know of any specific argument between Romero and Takaoka.

He said Takaoka was always smiling and that the sight of her cheered him up when he was having a bad day. He said she fed stray cats in the area, took care of pets for neighbors while they were away, photographed her neighbors to share with them as they grew older, and cleaned up around the neighborhood. She left a bucket under a mango tree for smokers. On Sunday her broom and dustpan remained under the tree next to a makeshift memorial for her.

“She was just the sweetest lady here,” Cabral said. “She was like an auntie to us all here. We’re still in shock as to why he would do that to her.”

Cabral said he couldn’t immediately process that the “sweet old lady” of the neighborhood had been shot, but after several interviews with police, his sadness quickly turned to anger.

“We all liked her,” he said. “The lives that she touched and the warmth that she brought to people on a daily basis cannot be replaced.”

Takaoka worked as a waitress for more than 10 years at Like Like Drive Inn on Keeaumoku Street before retiring because of vertigo, her friend and a waitress at the restaurant, Gaye Sanborn, said.

At Like Like, Takaoka was a sweet rascal, bantering with the cooking staff and other employees, and often brought food to share with co-workers, Sanborn said. She kept in touch after retiring and visited the restaurant about a week ago to wish the staff a merry Christmas.

“She’s a beautiful lady, beautiful inside and out,” Sanborn said. “Everybody liked her.”

Barros, the neighbor who was shot at, said Takaoka was a widow with two adult children on the mainland. Every day, she would share her newspaper with a neighbor and would send clippings to friends and a sister in a Waipahu care home. He said her motto was, “That’s OK,” her usual response when someone left a mess behind or when she was asked why she cleaned up after others.

On the day she was shot, Takaoka left some sweetbread and hot buns at Barros’ door. They chatted when she called him to let him know.

A few hours later she lay dying on the street.