Mary Knowlton, a 73-year-old retired librarian and volunteer, was killed on August 9, 2016, in Punta Gorda, Florida, during a Punta Gorda Police Department shoot/don’t shoot demonstration at a citizen’s academy. Officer Lee Coel, acting as the “bad guy,” fired a revolver that was mistakenly loaded with live ammunition instead of blanks. Knowlton was struck in front of about three dozen people, including her husband, and died shortly thereafter.

The Florida Department of Law Enforcement interviewed more than 50 witnesses and found a failure to properly differentiate live rounds from blanks was a critical factor. Officer Coel was charged with felony manslaughter with a firearm, later placed on ten years probation under a plea deal, and was fired from the department. Punta Gorda Police Chief Tom Lewis faced a misdemeanor culpable negligence charge and was found not guilty in 2017. The Punta Gorda City Council approved a settlement of over $2 million for Knowlton’s family.

What questions remain about how live ammunition came to be present at a public police demonstration, and can anyone who attended or has information about that day help clarify the sequence of events?