FL - Mary Knowlton, 73, fatally shot by Punta Gorda PD officer, 9 Aug 2016 *Arrest*

[GeeEm]

August 13, 2016
7:00 PM EDT

Inside Edition reported on this tonight

Thanks ~

 

[savagewoman]

http://www.swnewsmedia.com/prior_la...cle_5f7ef1e3-35e6-5450-a95d-67cb9883f0de.html
[h=1]Mary Knowlton was beloved librarian, volunteer[/h]
our local paper in MN had an article on her since she use to live here.

 

[CARIIS]

Channel 2 investigation found that:

• Not a single fatal police shooting since 2010 has gone to trial.
• Two-thirds of police shooting cases never went to a grand jury because district attorneys used their discretion not to bring charges.
• Of 48 cases that went to a grand jury, only nine involved the presentation of a criminal indictment. In the rest, the prosecutor simply asked the grand jury to determine if the shooting was justified or unjustified.

http://investigations.myajc.com/overtheline/prosecuted/


http://www.washingtonpost.com/sf/investigative/2015/04/11/thousands-dead-few-prosecuted/

To charge an officer in a fatal shooting, it takes something so egregious, so over the top that it cannot be explained in any rational way,” said Philip M. Stinson, a criminologist at Bowling Green who studies arrests of police. “It also has to be a case that prosecutors are willing to hang their reputation on.”

when they are convicted or plead guilty, they’ve tended to get little time behind bars, on average four years

 

[Blondie in Spokane]

Florida cop who accidentally shot dead a retiree, 73, during a citizen's police academy demonstration is fired

Read more: http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/art...an-training-exercise-fired.html#ixzz4bDswIfZ1

 

[Blondie in Spokane]

Chilling video shows the moment retiree, 73, was accidentally shot dead by a police officer while taking part in a training exercise

Read more: http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/art...-getting-accidentally-shot.html#ixzz4fGirHgCJ

 

[SeesSeas]

Chilling video shows the moment retiree, 73, was accidentally shot dead by a police officer while taking part in a training exercise

Read more: http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/art...-getting-accidentally-shot.html#ixzz4fGirHgCJ

So tragic.
And compassion lacking in the aftermath in that her husband claimed that he was not allowed to ride in the ambulance with his wife and was directed to the wrong hospital by police.
http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/art...-getting-accidentally-shot.html#ixzz4fGirHgCJ

 

[SeesSeas]

http://www.ci.punta-gorda.fl.us/home/showdocument?id=3627
FLORIDA DEPARTMENT OF LAW ENFORCEMENT
TWENTIETH JUDICIAL CIRCUIT
Knowlton Death Investigation
Case Number: FM-01-0027

Excerpt:
Conclusion
There is no evidence that Officer Coel intended to use lethal ammunition while participating in the role play scenario with Mary Knowlton on August 9, 2016. Furthermore, it is apparent that Ofc. Coel's, and others', inability to differentiate between blank firing cartridges and .38 caliber HBWC ammunition resulted in Mary Knowlton's death .

 

[JerseyGirl]

A former Punta Gorda Police Officer accused of manslaughter has requested his venue to be changed for trial. Lee Coel is accused in the death of a retired librarian, Mary Knowlton, during a citizens academy drill in Punta Gorda.

Coel's trial date has not been set, but is scheduled for a case management hearing Jan. 11, 2018.

http://www.mysuncoast.com/news/form...cle_c5ad66c0-e659-11e7-891c-d30425a608ac.html

 

[PrairieWind]

I hadn't really followed this story, but I do vaguely remember hearing about it when it happened. This is such a tragedy, and a completely unnecessary one, because it should never have even been possible for someone to get shot at one of these demonstrations. As a firearm enthusiast and shooter, I am appalled at the failure to observe basic firearm safety by the police department and individual officers. First, it is inconceivable to me, that a police officer that is apparently qualified to participate in a shoot/don't shoot demonstration is incapable of distinguishing between blank ammunition and live rounds. They do not look the same. If for some reason they do, those rounds should never have been in the possession of the police department. Second, the officer was given these rounds several weeks or months before the demonstration? No, No, No. Ammunition for this should have been passed out that morning. This leads to the third point; there was no designated officer in charge to ensure safety. There was some testimony about how the gun that librarian held was safety checked beforehand, but no one checked the officers pistol. One single senior officer, someone knowledgeable about firearms should have taken possession of the firearms to be used in the demonstration so that he could check them all to ensure that they are in good working order, and clear of all ammunition, then personally ensure they are loaded with blank ammunition that he brings to the demonstration. NO OTHER FIREARMS are allowed in the demonstration area. You have civilians involved in this demonstration, so there can be no chances taken. And finally, even if the live ammunition still snuck through somehow, the woman should not have been shot. Because even with blanks, you do NOT fire blank ammunition at people. EVER! There is still debris that often comes out of the barrel that can injure. This is basic firearm safety. There are just no excuses for this. This was the worst run and most unprofessional demonstration I could imagine. I am glad to see that the Police Chief was charged as well. Part of his defense was that there was lots blame to go around. And that is true. but the Chief was there that evening, and it is his responsibility to oversee everything, and he failed miserably.

 

[MsFacetious]

Wow I never saw he was charged, only that he was fired. I wonder how her family feels about it?

 

[Reasonable & Just]

Article from 7/18/19 with update as well as stats an info about other cases. A cop shot and killed their mom, and these men want to know why he still hasn't faced trial

No mention of re-training in the article. I hope it happened.

The deadly mix-up happened when Coel—who stored boxes of both live ammo and of blank cartridges in the back of his patrol car—reached for the wrong box and loaded his revolver with what he thought were blank firing cartridges, investigators said. Coel’s “inability to differentiate” between the two types of ammunition, which are similar in shape and size, led to Knowlton’s death, the state investigation found.

"In the months after the shooting, Steve, his 56-year-old brother William and their father assumed law enforcement would investigate what had gone wrong and hold accountable those responsible for the mistake. When the city offered the family a $2 million settlement, they took it instead of filing a civil lawsuit. But as time went on, the family says it felt ostracized for demanding justice. When Tom Lewis, the Punta Gorda Police Chief at the time, faced a misdemeanor negligence charge as a result of the shooting, local businesses raised money for his legal defense. Uniformed officers packed the courtroom during his trial, which ended in acquittal after his attorney argued that Lewis had no way of knowing Knowlton could be harmed during the exercise. “You’re not only the victim, but you’re the bad guy,” Steve Knowlton says."

 

[Reasonable & Just]

I think this case touches me because this lady participated in order to build understanding and trust in the community.