Florida Woman Accidentally Fatally Shot in Citizen Academy Training Exercise

A Punta Gorda (FL) Police Department officer accidentally fatally shot a woman during a citizens police academy role-playing exercise, reports the New York Times .

During a training exercise on Tuesday, which drew community leaders, business employees, and even the chief of the Punta Gorda Police Department, Mary Knowlton was selected to participate in a "shoot/don’t shoot" role play exercise. Knowlton, 73, was accidentally fatally shot by a police officer, according to authorities.

The police chief, Thomas P. Lewis, said at a news conference on Wednesday that Knowlton had been killed by an officer who fired a revolver that had been used before in the "shoot/don’t shoot" training sessions, a role-play exercise intended to teach people how to make decisions when confronted with lethal force.

The chief, who told reporters he had been present at the time of the shooting, did not address why the officer used live rounds in the training session.