Daughter of man found shot at The Cornish School in Seattle seeks public’s help to catch his killer

Seattle police searching for shooting suspect

The family of a man who was shot and left for dead is looking for answers. On Oct. 5, Matthew Antles was found bleeding and unresponsive outside the Cornish College of Arts in Seattle.

SEATTLE - Seattle Police are asking for the public's help to piece together a timeline of what happened before 45-year-old Matthew Antles was found unresponsive with a gunshot wound to his chest.

Officers located him at approximately 6:46 p.m. on Oct. 5 on the wheelchair ramp of the Cornish School in the Capitol Hill area of Seattle.

Sammie Barcus is making an appeal to the public to find her father’s killer.

"I looked just like him when I was a baby," said Sammie about her father, Matthew Antles.

"He was shot in the heart," said Sammie. "His heart had stopped for several minutes prior to him being found."

The family later had to make the gut-wrenching decision to take him off life support after several days in the hospital. Matthew was taken off life support on Oct. 15. He died peacefully on the evening of Oct. 17.

"We are all just completely devastated," said Sammie.

Sammie says Antles had at one time dreamed of being an engineer. However, due to challenges with addiction and mental health, he was most recently living in Cal Anderson Park in a hammock where he journaled about reconnecting with family and changing his life.

"I did get his journals shortly from the hospital after he passed," said Sammie. "He had a lighter on him, a harmonica, a ring, and his journal."

Sammie says investigators are trying to determine what he was doing near the Cornish School.

"That’s what the detective really wants to know," said Sammie.

Sammie always had hope for more connection in the future.

"It’s not fair that someone took him away from us, when we don’t deserve that. Nobody deserves having a loved one taken away from them," said Sammie.

She is asking for the public’s help to get justice for her father. The family and Seattle Police need information from anyone who saw Matthew arrive at the school or who has info on his killer.

Police say Matthew was unhoused and normally resided in a hammock in Cal Anderson Park.

"I would really just appreciate if anyone saw anything, or even knew him and said, ‘Hey, saw him at the park once in a while’. We just really want to know what he was doing prior to that and we really want to know what caused him to walk so far to that area," said Sammie. "I do want justice for my dad."

If you have any information, please call the SPD Violent Crimes Tip Line at (206) 233-5000.

You can also submit anonymous tips through the P3 Tips App on your cell phone or at 1-800-222-TIPS. Crime Stoppers is offering a $1,000 reward for any information that leads to an arrest.