Punta Gorda Police Chief Tom Lewis said the woman was “mistakenly struck with a live round” during a Citizens Academy scenario created to simulate the use of lethal force.
Advertisement
Punta Gorda police Chief Tom Lewis said Knowlton was “mistakenly struck with a live round”.
Knowlton was taken to Lee Memorial Hospital in nearby Fort Myers and pronounced dead, the chief said. “We are shocked by this horrific accident and are grieving deeply over Mary’s passing”, Kunik said. He is on paid administrative leave during the investigation by the Florida Department of Law Enforcement.
Punta Gorda Police Chief Tom Lewis told reporters the weapon was a revolver, not a department-issued service weapon. The class had 35 participants, and the officer-in-charge asked for a volunteer to simulate a scenario meant to demonstrate when and how authorities decide to pull the trigger.
The woman, who The News-Press reported is 73, was playing the victim in the scenario, the newspaper reported, and the officer was playing the “bad guy”. “She was a lovely woman”, says Steve Knowlton, one of Mary’s 2 sons.
And like the one in Punta Gorda, Fla., many citizen police academies across the country teach a curriculum that includes addressing use of lethal force by police. The event hosted approximately 35 civilians from the community for Chamber Police Night, a two hour presentation of the Punta Gorda Police Department. On Wednesday, a debate about whether the officer should have been armed was brewing on the police department’s page.
Florida police haven’t released a lot of information into how exactly this happened, but said they are investigating and working to get answers for Knowlton’s family.
As the officer simulated firing the weapon on the 73-year-old librarian, however, live rounds erupted from the gun, hitting Knowlton with live ammunition. But books are so important to have in children’s hands.
Lewis said he knew Knowlton well, calling her a “phenomenal person in this community”.
Her family devastated by the loss – says that’s the one question they want answered.
Advertisement
Hartwigsen said Knowlton and her husband of more than 50 years would come back to Minnesota periodically to visit.
