Mary Knowlton.
A 73 year old librarian was shot to death by a cop in what I suppose you could call friendly fire, but is a clear case of lethal incompetence. It is quite clear that cops cannot be trusted with guns, anymore than they can be trusted with cameras, or trusted to tell the truth.
Mary Knowlton arrived at the Punta Gorda, Fla., police station Tuesday night to learn how to be a community steward.
The 73-year-old was there as a student in the citizen police academy, a two-hour course intended to give an intimate look at what makes the department in the quaint Florida town work. On this night, the group of 35 would tour the station and talk with officers, an essential part of academy curriculum that has gained popularity across the country amid a heated national debate about police violence.
When it came time to get involved, Knowlton volunteered.
The hosting officers chose two students to role-play in a lethal force simulation, a scenario intended to demonstrate how and when officers decide to pull the trigger. Knowlton played the victim, Charlotte Sun photographer Sue Paquin told the newspaper, and a Punta Gorda police officer played a “bad guy.” These scenarios are usually safe, acted out with either fake or empty weapons.
But when the officer’s gun was fired, Knowlton — a mother, wife and career librarian — was hit with live ammunition.
She was rushed to a local hospital and pronounced dead.
The article goes on, much “deeply shocked, prayers”, along with a remarkable use of the passive voice, as if this just sort of happened, without any cop involved. It’s also noteworthy just how protective the statements are of the shooter. Cops and guns, a seriously bad combination.
Via the Washington Post. UPDATED.
Quoted for truth. Whether it’s incompetance or malice on their part in any given shooting, people are ending up just as dead.
Although the cop cannot be charged with incompetence, he should be charged with manslaughter. Through his actions (or inactions), a loaded gun was used in this “simulation”. If the officer is stupid enough to not check the ammunition in this scenario, he doesn’t deserve to be a cop, and he damn sure doesn’t deserve any protections for an “accidental” shooting.
I’m really unhappy about how the newspaper words the description of the accident. As if it just kinda happened and the bad gun just sort of went off.
No: a woman was shot by a cop.
The gun was loaded because the cop fucked up.
The gun was pointed at her and the cop pulled the trigger and it went off.
Cops are (in principle) trained not to point guns at people unless they are prepared to shoot them -- and this is why.
The cop is a disgrace to the force (aren’t they all?) but the newspaper is also a disgrace to letters.
What the FUCK??!!??
A 73 year old librarian was shot to death by a cop
Crap, there’s a really bad joke here. As I was sliding past the article, I mis-read something and my eye corrected it and I had a brainfart. It’s basically a version of the old joke I first heard from Fred Eaglesmith:
Two hunters are stalking by the side of a cornfield and suddenly a guy jumps out, waves his hands, and yells “don’t shoot, I’m not a deer!” One of the hunters pauses, thinks hard, then raises his rifle and blasts the guy. His friend is horrified, “WHAT did you shoot him for? Couldn’t you hear him say ‘I’m not a deer’?!?!?” And the shooter says “Oh, no, I thought he said he was a deer.”
A 73 year old librarian was shot to death by a cop
Maybe he thought she said she was a libertarian?
You should always treat a gun as if it is loaded, even if you’ve just unloaded it yourself. There is no excuse for conducting these sorts of exercises with real weapons, and doing so is definitely not “safe”.
Hard rubber training guns cost $15 on amazon. It’s a shame officer pork’s toxic masculinity got that poor woman killed.