SEATTLE – The suspect shot and killed by police at a Southcenter hotel has been identified as retired Navy medic Bruce Coval Meneley.
Meneley was shot and killed by Seattle police around 3 p.m. on April 17 at the DoubleTree on Southcenter Parkway.
Body camera video released last week by Seattle police showed an operation to confront Meneley, 67, on suspicion of child sex crimes. Officers came out of a hotel room to approach him and appeared on body camera video to pull a gun from his jacket.
The three officers threw themselves at him and fired around thirty shots.
According to medical records, Meneley died from “multiple gunshot wounds.”
Bruce Coval Meneley as seen on Seattle police body camera video.
((SPD))
Meneley was a Navy captain and medic who served at Guantanamo Bay, and he spoke with The New York Times in 2016 about the mistreatment of patients at the remote detention center. He also commanded the NATO Role 3 Multinational Medical Unit in Afghanistan.
Meneley left his position at Gitmo in 2009, then NATO in 2012.
Authorities said Meneley was under investigation by the state’s Internet Crimes Against Children Task Force. According to Police Chief Adrian Diaz, the suspect thought he was meeting two girls ages 7 and 11.
A police officer was shot in the leg. Their injuries were minor and they were not taken to hospital. No one else was injured.
According to a criminal complaint obtained by FOX 13 News, Meneley was accused of sex crimes in 2017, when he was arrested during a human trafficking/prostitution case in Bremerton. Detectives posed as a sex worker online and agreed to meet Meneley, where he was greeted by Kitsap County sheriff’s deputies. Meneley’s number was involved in two separate prostitution operations, deputies reported.
Documents from 2017 indicate that during an interview with detectives, Meneley admitted he had been arrested for a similar offense in Texas years before. At the time, he was redirected to community service and classes.
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