A 21-year-old man, Matthew Lanske, was shot three times in Seattle's Belltown neighbourhood on 6 September after intervening in an armed robbery targeting his friend, Isaac Elijah Rios, 20. The attack occurred as the pair and their friends crossed the street near an illegal car "takeover," when a man and two women attempted to rob Rios at gunpoint; Lanske tried to wrestle the weapon away and was shot twice in the stomach and once in the pelvis, severing a major artery. The case has drawn attention not only for Lanske's bravery but for the reported indifference of onlookers, who allegedly filmed him as he bled rather than helping or calling emergency services.

Despite his injuries, Lanske managed to walk roughly two blocks seeking help, including being turned away from a 7-Eleven, before finding somewhere to sit and text 911 and his girlfriend himself. He underwent emergency surgery and spent two days on life support before a further operation to reconnect his intestines; he later learned Rios had died from his wounds. Rios's family and friends described the scene as harrowing, with one saying paramedics took a long time to arrive, while Lanske's relatives have publicly criticised bystanders who filmed rather than intervened.