The married mother of two sons was a retiree from Minnesota and had signed up for the city’s Citizens Academy as a show of support for law enforcement after deadly attacks on police in Dallas and Baton Rouge, Louisiana, son Steve Knowlton told NBC News.
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Aycock heads citizen academies locally.
Lewis made it clear during a Thursday morning press conference that he accepts blame for Tuesday’s death of a beloved community figure. Police say an officer accidentally shot a woman to death during a citizen.
The officer’s background provides yet another twist to the death of the woman who was shot during a role-playing session in which she was a crime victim and he took the part of the “bad guy”, police said.
FDLE is investigating the officer-involved shooting, said Steve Arthur, communications coordinator for the department.
Gary Knowlton said he met Mary when they were both in high school. At a citizens’ academy meeting on Tuesday night, officer Lee Coel mistakenly shot 73-year-old Mary Knowlton during the exercise. He was hired by the Punta Gorda Police Department in March 2014.
The man, Stennette Simpson, had been accused of marijuana possession.
“I told everyone that this officer was risky and he needed to be fired”, said Weinberg, who didn’t identify his client.
Coel, 28, left the Miramar Police Department after 14 months in the Broward County municipality.
“Officer Coel is frequently seen throughout our community providing department presentations and tours and specifically role-playing in these shoot/don’t shoot scenarios as well as a police presence at youth and neighborhood events”, a Wednesday statement on the Punta Gorda Police Dept. Facebook page said. Why was no one aware it was loaded with live ammunition?
The chief of police in Punta Gorda, Florida, accepted “full responsibility” Wednesday for the fatal shooting of a retiree during a training exercise as revelations emerged that the officer who pulled the trigger had a checkered career.
For now, Lee is on administrative leave while the incident is being investigated.
Investigators concluded that the allegations were unfounded except for the speeding, which they said topped out at 102 miles per hour and could have placed both men in danger.
Weinberg represented Richard Schumacher, who was 25 at the time, after he was mauled by Coel’s K-9 partner during an arrest, the attorney said. A couple of weeks later, Officer Coel was forced to resign.
During his training, other Miramar officers said Coel had “very strong command presence” and was able to take charge of crime scenes and arrests. A woman who answered a phone listed in public records for Coel said she didn’t want to talk and hung up. “This has been a major struggle”, one superior officer wrote. “He is letting the stress get to him, which is causing him to make more mistakes”.
He could not be reached for comment Wednesday by reporters at the News-Press.
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Coel remained on the force following the June complaint.
