Woman Is Accidentally Killed by Police Officer Playing ‘Bad Guy’ at Training Academy in Florida
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Version 6 of 7. Mary Knowlton knew that the key to enjoying retirement in Punta Gorda, Fla., was to stay active, her friends say, and they had no idea how she kept so busy. When she signed up for a citizens academy held by the local police department, she and her husband were among 35 people hoping to learn more about law enforcement tactics. During the training on Tuesday, which drew community leaders, business employees and even the chief of the Punta Gorda Police Department, Ms. Knowlton was selected to participate in a “shoot/don’t shoot” role-play exercise. But the session went terribly wrong. Ms. Knowlton, 73, was accidentally shot and killed by a police officer, according to the authorities. The police chief, Thomas P. Lewis, said at a news conference on Wednesday that Ms. Knowlton had been killed by an officer who fired a revolver that had been used before in the role-play exercise intended to teach people how to make decisions when confronted with lethal force. The chief, who said he had been present at the time of the shooting, did not address why the officer, whom the department later identified as Officer Lee Coel, used live rounds in the training session. On Wednesday, the Police Department said in a statement that Officer Coel joined the department in 2014 and frequently participated in shoot/don’t shoot programs. Chief Lewis said that Officer Coel was placed on administrative leave and that the Florida Department of Law Enforcement would conduct an independent investigation. That officer has made headlines before: In June, a man sued the department, alleging excessive force after, he said, Officer Coel allowed a police dog to attack him for two minutes, according to a local NBC affiliate. In that case, Chief Lewis defended his officer. “The Police Department is always open to criticism. Bottom line is we don’t always get it right,” the chief said at the time. Police departments across the United States, from Houston to Evanston, Ill., host some version of citizens academy programs for volunteers. Curriculums range from how to reach out to at-risks youth to shoot/don’t shoot scenarios, which are often meant to show members of the public what police officers face when they confront an armed suspect, and which factors lead to the decision to fire their weapons. “This type of scenario-based role play is not only well received in our community, but has grown in use across the country,” Lt. Katie R. Heck of the Punta Gorda Police Department, said in a statement on Wednesday. The department had operated the scenarios as part of its training program for about two years without incident, Lieutenant Heck said in an email. A CNN report in May showed an anchor, Carol Costello, undergoing a shoot/don’t shoot training session developed by F.B.I. agents. Ms. Costello was outfitted with a heart monitor and given a firearm. She was told to negotiate with a man portraying an emotionally disturbed person who later pulls out a weapon. Ms. Costello hesitates to pull her gun, and another man standing next to her says, “O.K., bam, you’re dead.” In Punta Gorda, Ms. Knowlton was chosen at random with another person to participate in a session. She was shot during the first of two planned scenarios, the police said. The authorities did not say where she was shot or how many times, but Sue Paquin, a local photographer who was covering the event, told The News-Press in Fort Myers that the officer had fired several shots at Ms. Knowlton. According to a post by The Charlotte Sun on Facebook, the officer had been playing a “bad guy” in the scenario when he shot Ms. Knowlton. She was taken to Lee Memorial Hospital in Fort Myers, where she was pronounced dead. In a statement on Wednesday, Howard Kunik, the city manager, also called the shooting a “horrific accident.” He said that the Police Department’s chaplain had been made available to assist the program’s other attendees. According to a Facebook page belonging to Ms. Knowlton, she was originally from Minnesota and had worked as a librarian. On Facebook, a niece of Ms. Knowlton’s, Jenny Tucker Christensen, said the older woman was married with two sons. Calls to a phone number listed for the Knowlton family were not immediately returned on Wednesday, but Katie Mazzi, a friend and fellow member of the Friends of the Punta Gorda Library organization, said Ms. Knowlton and her husband, Gary, had moved to Punta Gorda, a harbor town of about 16,000 people near Fort Myers, about 15 years ago. Ms. Mazzi said that the Knowltons were involved in several local philanthropic organizations and their church, and helped mentor at-risk youths. Of the news media attention surrounding the case, Ms. Mazzi, 66, said: “It’s resonating because of the horrific nature of what happened. But for us in the community, the bigger story is that it was Mary.” After the shooting, residents reacted on Facebook. On Wednesday, a debate about whether the officer should have been armed was brewing on the Police Department’s page. “An accident, really, so that makes it OK?” one observer noted. “Live rounds used in a citizens training exercise.” In an interview with reporters for The News-Press on Wednesday, Steve Knowlton, Ms. Knowlton’s son, said there was some confusion after the officers in the training session realized she had been shot with live rounds. “In that situation, why wasn’t somebody else — you know, another cop — playing that role?” he said. “Why was anybody even aiming a gun at anybody?” |