PUNTA GORDA, Fla. (AP) — A woman was fatally shot by an officer while participating in a “shoot-don’t shoot” exercise during a two-hour citizens academy hosted by the Punta Gorda Police Department in southwest Florida.
Police Chief Tom Lewis said the shooting happened Tuesday night as two of the 35 participants were randomly selected to take part in a live roleplaying scenario “in which they make decisions on using simulated lethal force.”
Lewis said Mary Knowlton, a librarian, was “mistakenly struck with a live round.”
“I am devastated for everyone involved in this unimaginable event,” Lewis told reporters during a late-night news conference at the police department. “If you pray, please pray for Mary’s family, and for the officers who were involved. Everyone involved in this accident is in a state of overwhelming shock and grief.”
Knowlton was taken to a hospital in nearby Fort Myers, where she was pronounced dead.
The Florida Department of Law Enforcement is investigating, Lewis said. He declined to identify the officer involved in the shooting, but said he’s been placed on administrative leave.
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When will we stop our fetishization of police?
Guns are always dangerous. Always.
This, once again, puts the complete lie to the idea that more guns means more safety.
American police officers are among the most highly trained gun users in the world, requiring repeated safety training and at least annual qualification.
And still a live round was in a gun intended to be filled with either nothing or blanks, and a person is dead as a result.
Yet the “second amendment people” Trump suggests might come into play if Clinton becomes president think we should allow anyone who can drop a couple hundred dollars at a gun show to carry a loaded weapon into churches, colleges, high schools, Piggly Wigglys, bars, restaurants, public parks, etc.
I am not an advocate of banning all guns. I’ve been hunting, and enjoyed it. I’ve been target shooting with .22s, and enjoyed it. But we have to require any gun owners to register their gun, register any sale, maintain insurance, be tested on its use, and be limited in how it is stored and where it can be carried.
This incident – highly trained people in a highly controlled situation that still results in a gun death – is the proof that more guns does not equal more safety. And should be for anyone with an ounce of intellect and integrity.
It’s just a shame there wasn’t a good guy with a gun there to protect her.
Lawyers representing the heirs of Ms. Knowlton are deciding how much of the city of Punta Gorda will be awarded to the family in settlement.