Seattle Police say a man found critically injured on Capitol Hill earlier this month had been shot and later died of his injuries. Detectives are seeking help from the public to unravel the case.
They say the victim lived unhoused on Capitol Hill and made camp in a hammock in Cal Anderson Park.
CHS reported here on the Thursday, October 5th incident in which the down man was found outside Cornish College’s Kerry Hall on E Roy in an incident that SPD initially said appeared to have involved self-inflicted knife wounds.
But SPD said Wednesday it was determined the man had been shot. The hospital notified police a week later, SPD says.
“While at the hospital, the 45-year-old male victim never regained conscious and succumbed to his injuries on Tuesday, October 17th,” SPD reports.
Police have identified the man as Matthew Antles. Police said Antles was unhoused “and normally resided in a hammock in Cal Anderson Park.”
SPD is now conducting a homicide investigation and hoping for help from the public.
On Thursday, October 5th at around 7:00 p.m., East Precinct patrol officers responded to a report of an unconscious man in the 700 block of East Roy Street. Seattle Fire Department was on scene providing life-saving measures and transported the unresponsive man to Harborview Medical Center for further treatment of his serious injuries. It was later determined that the victim had been shot. Homicide detectives were updated on October 11th about the victim’s life-threatening circumstances. While at the hospital, the 45-year-old male victim never regained conscious and succumbed to his injuries on Tuesday, October 17th. The King County Medical Examiner’s Office completed their investigation and ruled the death a homicide. The victim was identified as Matthew T. Antles, 09/18/1978. Matthew was unhoused and normally resided in a hammock in Cal Anderson Park. Homicide detectives need assistance from anyone who may have information about this incident. Please call the SPD Violent Crimes Tip Line at (206) 233-5000.
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There’s nothing “normal” about “residing in a hammock in Cal Anderson Park.” Just our famous Progressive ‘Harm Reduction Strategies’ enabling a person experiencing mental health crisis to continue to live outside instead of requiring that he get help. And now he’s dead. But your feelings are clear. You helped keep him outside because that was ‘his choice.’
People should be allowed to live outside. Aren’t we land of the free? Fascism and forcing them into a “house” (a jail if you had your way, be honest) isn’t the answer…
Land of the ‘free’ .. as long as we are participating in more or less the same social values, norms, and rules. ..a contract if you will. If someone wants to purchase a parcel of land in no-where Washington and live, more power to them. If they want to live rugged, SHARE has options available. If someone wants to live off the land in a nature preserve, on federal land.. I can’t get behind that, they are destroying a shared resource. Same goes for a private garden in a public park or deciding to live at Cal Anderson because you don’t want to ‘live on a house.’
This is a very bad take.
Next step “we should allow people to shoot people, aren’t we the land of the free”? It’s dumb and no people living outside is not part of our social contract. Shelter is a universal human right, and if someone keeps breaking that contract – they don’t belong in society.
I’m starting you think you post here merely to troll people. This might be your most deeply unserious take yet and that’s really saying something.
Starting to think? Only in Seattle would anyone think this dude is real
More unhinged commentary from ‘CD Resident’. Get a grip
Do you know him personally? NO? Then how do you know he’s suffering a mental health crisis? Stop using his name as a political tool.
requiring people to get help also requires considerable resources that have been underfunded and overused for a long time, and also frequently don’t match the needs people have. there are also clear laws against involuntary commitment and treatment, and for good reason. what you would be “enabling” is police rounding up homeless and putting them in “required” treatment centers which would be indistinguishable from jails.
The new city legislation (enforcing the law against using drugs in public) is a much-needed step towards ” requiring” addicts to accept help (or face prosecution). The early stats, from last weekend’s arrests, are encouraging as far as diverting most to programs which will get them the help they need to get off the streets and into recovery.
you got it twisted
A very normal mentally healthy response to news of a murder
Another vulnerable person let down in the worst way by Seattle. The best measure of a society is how it cares for its vulnerable people; Seattle is becoming legendary for its psychopathy. And the worst proponents hide behind liberal platitudes and willful ignorance—all us crybabies who cry foul are just pro police state, right? Seattle, you are knee deep in corruption and definitely much higher up than that in BS.
thanks for proposing concrete solutions and not politicizing a tragic death. legendary
Oh, we are way too late for concrete solutions. We already decided we are against anything like that. Just live and let live in the park, man. We all know the houseless are the first to fall victim to street crime, the most vulnerable people in the city. But we like to spectate the chaos and misery or so it seems. It’s the opposite of compassion, the opposite of humanity to allow our bothers and sisters to be preyed upon in the streets.
“The best measure of a society is how it cares for its vulnerable people”
What gave you the idea that’s the best measure of a society? There are tons of ways to measure a society, what’s so great about that particular way?
It’s a Mahatma Gandhi quote for one, and it’s also true for society in micro and macro. Think family—how a family treats it’s elderly or disabled will give you a good read on their decency in general. True also for municipalities—especially wealthy ones. Post pandemic Seattle is never going down in history as anything to be be admired or copied. It’s disaster capitalism and like I said before, true psychopathy woven into legislation and public policy.
This is so sad. RIP
This is very odd. I wonder what led them to think the stab wounds were self inflicted? Or are they saying he stabbed himself and then also got shot by someone else?
Just another story of guns doing the only thing they do.
There is nothing worse than being run up upon by a group of guns late at night demanding my phone and wallet.
Exactly. Knives or fisticuffs would be better. Gotta up the survival rates of being an American you know what I’m sayin?