Mary Knowlton, a librarian, was participating in the “Citizen Police Academy” program, a two-hour community course put on by officers in Punta Gorda, on Florida’s west coast. She was pronounced dead after being taken to a local hospital.
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The academy consists of a series of sessions created to provide insight into city government and includes site visits to various agencies, according to Punta Gorda’s website.
Knowlton was one of about 35 volunteers present, and volunteered with another attendee to undergo the scenario which ended in tragedy.
A Florida police officer shot and killed a 73-year-old retired librarian in a “tragic accident” during an exercise with local residents that was meant to involve simulated lethal force, authorities said on Wednesday.
Sarasota Herald-Tribune gun writer Lee Williams, himself an NRA-certified law enforcement firearms instructor with three medals of valor picked up in his law enforcement career, blasted the incident as an avoidable negligent discharge.
In a statement, Punta Gorda Police Chief Tom Lewis says his department has contacted the Florida Department of Law Enforcement for an investigation into the incident.
It was a negligent death, something that could have easily been avoided.
‘We have done them for the last two Leadership Charlotte police nights, Punta Gorda Citizen’s Academy, and then this was the first police night hosted by our Chamber of Commerce, ‘ she said.
If they adhered to generally accepted training standards, Ms. Knowlton would be alive today. The police chief, visibly emotional, read a statement similar to the one released by the department.
About 35 people were taking part in Tuesday’s event at the Punta Gorda Police Department which as part of its mandate sought to explain the ‘the role and responsibility of the various city departments and services they provide to the community’. The profile information said she’s from Austin, Minnesota. She said Knowlton had a love of books and tried to instill that in young readers. But books are so important to have in children’s hands.
Knowlton’s Facebook page says her last job was as a librarian for the Scott County Public Library in Savage, Minn.
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The couple had two sons, Hartwigsen said.
