A 21-year-old man was shot three times while trying to stop a robbery in Seattle, and was left staggering through the streets as a heartless passersby filmed his ordeal and his friend was left dying on the street.
Matthew Lanske had just finished dinner with his friends in the city’s Belltown neighborhood on September 6, when they witnessed an illegal street takeover, his family said.
When Lanske and his friends then crossed the street near the intersection of 3rd Avenue and Clay Street, a man and two women tried to rob his friend, Isaac Elijah Rios, 20, at gunpoint.
Lanske immediately jumped in to help, bravely trying to grab the gun from the man, when he was shot three times – twice in the stomach while the third shattered his pelvis and struck a major artery, his sister Rebecca Garberding said.
‘My brother had seen that, so he ran over to try to assist and get control of the gun, not only for his friend, but for the whole community and ended up getting hurt,’ she told KOMO.
The 21-year-old then ran about a block away to try to get help while two other friends stayed with Rios, who was also shot, and called 911.
‘My son had been shot three times,’ Lanske’s mother, Shanda Barney, recounted. ‘He was bleeding to death, yet somehow, he walked two blocks trying to find somebody to help him.’
At one point that night, Lanske even reportedly tried to get help at a local 7-Eleven, but was refused entrance while those nearby filmed him as he bled out.
Matthew Lanske, 21, was shot three times while trying to prevent his friend from being robbed in Seattle on September 6
Isaac Elijah Rios, 20, was killed in the attack after he, Lanske and their friends finished dinner
The shooting occurred after the friend group stumbled upon an illegal street takeover in the city’s Belltown neighborhood
‘He looked at me with tears in his eyes and said, “Mom, they wouldn’t let me in. They locked the doors. I begged them to let me, and there was so much blood coming out of my stomach, I thought I was going to die,”‘ Barney said her son told her.
‘What breaks my heart almost as much as the shooting itself is knowing that while my son was fighting for his life, people were standing around filming him, taking pictures instead of helping him,’ she added.
Garberding said she understands that some people may have been afraid, but believes someone could have called 911 or helped her brother reach safety.
‘If you were running away from that area and you didn’t do anything, feel ashamed,’ she said. ‘Please feel ashamed right now, because you didn’t help to do anything when you could have.’
Instead, Lanske was forced to find a place to sit, from where he could text 911 and his girlfriend.
Officers eventually found the 21-year-old, and he was rushed to a local hospital where he underwent emergency surgery, Barney said in a statement.
For two days afterward, Lanske remained on life support and was unable to speak. He then underwent an additional surgery to reconnect his intestines.
When he finally woke up, he learned that Rios had been killed in the attack.
Lanske remained on life support for two days after the shooting
He had to undergo an emergency surgery
‘He has, I feel like, survivors’ guilt, you know,’ said Brooklynne Lanske, another sister. ‘He wanted to save his friend so bad and he woke up to so many changes.’
Rios had been found on the sidewalk on the night of September 6, ‘bleeding and fighting for his life,’ his aunt has said.
It was ‘gut-wrenching,’ Rios and Lanske’s friend Christopher Lujano told Fox 13.
‘Nothing in my life could prepare me for what I saw that day,’ he said.
Another friend, Christian Devera, said that when he found Rios ‘it was just a hard feeling.
‘My only thought was to try to get help to him as soon as possible,’ he recounted. ‘I was on the phone with 911, and it took them a long time to come.’
Rios was eventually rushed to a local hospital in critical condition, where he succumbed to his injuries.
As his family now grieves, Lanske is continuing to recover from his injuries – but he could still be months away from being healthy enough to return to his construction job.
Lanske could still be months away from being healthy enough to return to his construction job
Rios’ family remembered him as a skilled football player who always encouraged others
Both families are now demanding justice, asking anyone who witnessed the shooting, saw what happened beforehand or may have video to contact police, as Crime Stoppers of Puget Sound offers a $1,000 reward for any information leading to an arrest.
‘Somehow, someone out there knows something,’ Garberding said. ‘Maybe you saw something. Maybe you heard something. Just please come forward.’
The Lanske family is also raising funds for his recovery and a separate fundraiser has also been set up to support Rios’ family with his funeral expenses.
It says Rios was set to turn 21 on October 10, and had been eagerly planning his milestone birthday.
‘Isaac had plans, dreams and a future he was building with so much pride,’ his aunt, Beneta Lal, wrote in the GoFundMe.
‘A 2024 graduate of Lake Stevens High School, Isaac was not only a football player, he was a football champion, known for his heart, his drive and the way he lifted up his teammates.
‘He worked as an electrician at Boeing and on his spare time, could fix just about anything with an engine.’
The fundraiser goes on to say Rios loved to ski and was ‘never afraid of a challenge.’
‘He took on double black diamond runs with the same fearless determination he carried in every part of his life.
‘He loved exploring new places, trying out the best restaurants and spending time with his family. Those were his happiest moments,’ the fundraiser said.
Both the Rios family (pictured) and the Lanske family are demanding justice
It described the 20-year-old as ‘the kind of young man who showed up for people. King, loving, gentle and full of life.
‘He was a son, a brother, a nephew, a cousin and a friend who made everyone around him feel seen and encouraged.
‘The bond he shared with his mother, Jeannie, was something rare and beautiful. He was her light, her joy, her biggest cheerleader.’
Jeannie Colony also told Fox 13 how her son ‘loved everybody.’
‘He was the best thing on this planet, this planet wasn’t good enough for him,’ she said, describing how he had a ‘heart of gold.’
‘The only thing he got angry over was injustice and this was injustice to the core,’ she said. ‘He didn’t deserve this.’
The shooting death has now left his family ‘shattered,’ his aunt wrote in the online fundraiser.
‘The emptiness Isaac leaves behind is something words will never fully capture,’ she said. ‘His future was bright, his heart was huge and his life was taken far too soon.
‘We are not only grieving, we are angry,’ she continued. ‘Angry that his life was stolen. Angry that he was taken from us in such a cruel and senseless way. angry that we are living with a pain no family should ever have to endure.
‘The killer is still out there, and living with that reality has left our family terrified, grieving and desperate for justice,’ Lal said. ‘Knowing Isaac’s life was taken and the person responsible has not yet been held accountable is a pain that sits with us every single day.
‘We are angry, we are heartbroken and we will not stop fighting for him,’ she vowed, asking the public ‘help us find justice for Isaac and keep his name, his story and his memory alive.’
