--- description: A Florida police chief and a cop were charged after a 73-year-old woman was accidentally shot dead during a civilian police academy course. title: Cop Who Shot 73-Year-Old Woman During Training Course Charged in Her Death image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt76197624e7006c51/6988bb85cf40a8277cc46920/mary-knowlton.jpg?branch=production&width=1080&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 ---  * [U.S.](/section/us/) ## U.S. Update your preferences in [Account Settings](/account/preferences/) Close # Cop Who Shot 73-Year-Old Woman During Training Course Charged in Her Death  by [Melissa Chan](/author/melissa-chan/)  ## Melissa Chan Update your preferences in [Account Settings](/account/preferences/) Close Updated: Dec 14, 2023 10:58 PM CUTPublished: Feb 23, 2017 4:18 PM CUT  Mary Knowlton, 73, was accidentally shot dead by a police officer during a citizen police academy course at the Punta Gorda, Fla., police station in August 2016. Mary Knowlton, 73, was accidentally shot dead by a police officer during a citizen police academy course at the Punta Gorda, Fla., police station in August 2016.Photo courtesy Steve Knowlton  by [Melissa Chan](/author/melissa-chan/)  ## Melissa Chan Update your preferences in [Account Settings](/account/preferences/) Close Updated: Dec 14, 2023 10:58 PM CUTPublished: Feb 23, 2017 4:18 PM CUT A Florida police chief has been charged with negligence and one of his officers was charged with manslaughter six months after a 73-year-old woman was [accidentally shot dead during a civilian police academy course](http://time.com/4446605/mary-knowlton-florida-punta-gorda-police-shooting/ "undefined"). Punta Gorda Police Chief Tom Lewis and police officer Lee Coel, who [fatally fired](http://time.com/4446230/florida-punta-gorda-librarian-shot/ "undefined") at Mary Knowlton, both face charges in the August 2016 shooting, prosecutors said Wednesday. Knowlton, a longtime librarian, was participating in a role-playing exercise at the Punta Gorda, Fla. police station when Coel “mistakenly” shot her, authorities said at the time. The exercise was meant to teach students when to shoot and when not to shoot during lethal force situations. Coel, 28, could receive up to 30 years in prison for the felony manslaughter charge, according to the [Naples _Daily News_](http://www.usatoday.com/story/news/nation-now/2017/02/22/2-cops-charged-florida-womans-accidental-shooting-death/98269012/ "undefined"). His lawyer, Jerry Berry, said Coel didn’t know the gun had live ammunition in it, [WINK News](http://www.winknews.com/2017/02/22/ruling-expected-in-punta-gorda-citizens-academy-shooting/ "undefined") reported. Lewis, who was charged with a misdemeanor count of culpable negligence, faces up to 60 days in jail. Steve Knowlton, one of Mary Knowlton’s two sons, told TIME in August that he was struggling with his anger toward the officer who shot his mother, because she taught him not to “harbor hate.” “I know the police officer didn’t intentionally do it, but it just feels like our souls got ripped out of our chest,” he said at the time. “It just turned everything upside down.” ```json [{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"NewsArticle","@id":"https://time.com/4680268/punta-gorda-police-charged-mary-knowlton/","mainEntityOfPage":{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https://time.com/4680268/punta-gorda-police-charged-mary-knowlton/"},"headline":"Cop Who Shot 73-Year-Old Woman During Training Course Charged in Her Death","datePublished":"2017-02-23T16:18:48.000Z","dateModified":"2023-12-14T22:58:57.000Z","description":"The woman was mistakenly shot dead last year during a civilian police course","url":"https://time.com/4680268/punta-gorda-police-charged-mary-knowlton/","keywords":["Crime","Florida","onetime"],"thumbnailUrl":"https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt76197624e7006c51/6988bb85cf40a8277cc46920/mary-knowlton.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=1200:675&height=675","author":[{"@type":"Person","name":"Melissa Chan","jobTitle":null,"url":"https://time.com/author/melissa-chan/"}],"articleSection":"U.S.","image":[{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt76197624e7006c51/6988bb85cf40a8277cc46920/mary-knowlton.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=1200:675&height=675","width":1200,"height":675,"headline":"mary-knowlton","caption":"Mary Knowlton, 73, was accidentally shot dead by a police officer during a citizen police academy course at the Punta Gorda, Fla., police station in August 2016.","creditText":"Photo courtesy Steve Knowlton","representativeOfPage":true}],"publisher":{"@type":"Organization","name":"Time","url":"https://time.com/","logo":{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https://time.com/images/logo.png","width":528,"height":156},"foundingDate":"March 3, 1923","sameAs":["https://www.facebook.com/time","https://www.instagram.com/time/?hl=en","https://twitter.com/time","https://www.pinterest.com/timemagazine"]}},{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"BreadcrumbList","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"item":{"@id":"/section/us/","name":"U.S."}},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"item":{"@id":"https://time.com/4680268/punta-gorda-police-charged-mary-knowlton/","name":"Cop Who Shot 73-Year-Old Woman During Training Course Charged in Her Death"}}]}] ```