Police shot a suspect in a pedophile sting operation on Wednesday afternoon this past week. Footage from the officer's body cam was released on Friday and shows the suspect reaching for his gun when he was subsequently shot dead by police.
A 67-year-old man came to the door of a hotel expecting to meet with two young girls aged 7 and 11. Instead police were waiting for him to come to the door at the hotel, according to KIRO 7.
When he came to the door and the police greeted him, he began to pull out his firearm. He was then shot by police in response.
“I was running, I could see someone firing a gun,” Eric Wehrmeister, a witness on the scene told KOMO News. "Good thing they were shooting away from my room. You know it could’ve been a lot worse.”
Two officers fired rounds as the suspect, striking and killing him. A bullet grazed one officer’s leg during the operation.
The officers had been conducting a Washington State Internet Crimes Against Children Taskforce (ICAC) operation at the DoubleTree hotel in Tukwila. The ICAC unit investigates child sexual exploitation cases including crimes such as production of child pornography as well as possession and distribution of the material.
"At 3:14 p.m., SPD Officers were conducting an Internet Crimes Against Children Taskforce operation when an Ofc involved shooting occurred. An Ofc suffered a minor injury, the suspect was deceased at the scene. The Force Investigation Team is investigating per protocol," a post on Wednesday from the police department read after the incident.
In a press conference with Deputy Chief Eric Barden of the Seattle PD, he told reporters that arrests usually do not require force, however, in this case the suspect reached for a firearm.
"We never know when people are going to produce a firearm when we arrest them," Barden told reporters in the press conference.
According to data from the National Center for Missing and Exploited Children (NCMEC), the online enticement of children is growing exponentially. In 2023 cases rose on its tip line by 12 percent compared to the previous year and surpassed more than 36.2 million reports in total. The majority of the reports are related to the circulation of child sexual abuse material.
The majority of reports involved locations outside the US while 1.1 million of the reports came from inside the US. Data gathered by the tip line from NCMEC include reports from the Internet Crimes Against Children Task Forces as well as other federal, state and local law enforcement agencies.
If you wish to report sexual abuse material of children, contact the NCMEC tip line at 1-800-843-5678 to file a report.
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