The Florida police officer who accidentally shot and killed a 73-year-old retired librarian during a citizen academy "shoot/don't shoot" class last year turned himself in to face a manslaughter charge Wednesday.
Punta Gorda Officer Lee Coel is charged with manslaughter with a firearm, a first-degree felony, in the August 9 death of Mary Knowlton, according to the State Attorney's Office of the 20th Judicial Circuit.
Police Chief Thomas Lewis was also charged with culpable negligence, a second-degree misdemeanor, in the shooting, officials said.
Coel was booked in to the Charlotte County Jail, while Lewis was not arrested.
Knowlton, 73, was participating in an exercise designed to show citizens the split-second decisions police officers must make when the shooting happened. Officials said officers in such demonstrations normally use "simunition guns," which are real-looking weapons that fire a non-lethal projectile with reduced force. But Knowlton was mistakenly struck with a live round, officials said.
Coel, a native of Cooper City, Florida, played football at Simpson College in Iowa and served as a police officer in Miramar before joining the Punta Gorda force.
