Doug Stanglin

USA TODAY

A 73-year-old retired librarian playacting as a victim in a "shoot/don't shoot" exercise at a Florida police community event was shot and killed Tuesday night by an officer who mistakenly fired live ammunition instead of blank rounds, according to Punta Gorda, Fla., police.

Mary Knowlton was shot several times by Punta Gorda police officer Lee Coel playing a "bad guy" in the scenario designed to demonstrate the quick decisions police must make on the job, said Sue Paquin, a photographer covering the event for theCharlotte Sun.

Punta Gorda police Chief Tom Lewis said Knowlton was "mistakenly struck with a live round." She was taken to a local hospital where she died.

Lewis, who was at the event when the shooting occurred, said Wednesday that Coel was "very grief-stricken" over the incident and that officers had been assigned to him "to make sure he is psychologically stable."

Coel has been placed on administrative leave pending the outcome of the investigation by the Florida Department of Law Enforcement, Lewis said. The 28-year-old had participated in similar public role-playing scenarios presented by the department.

Coel was hired at the Punta Gorda Police Department in March 2014. He left the Miramar Police Department after 14 months in the Broward County municipality. According to the FDLE, he left the agency in April of 2013 for failing to satisfactorily complete an agency field training program. .

Tania Rues, Miramar police spokeswoman, said Coel resigned but could not comment why.

About 35 people were taking part in Tuesday's event at the Punta Gorda Police Department, according to The (Fort Myers, Fla.) News-Press.

Two volunteers, including Knowlton, were selected at random to play act the scenario in which they are asked to make decisions on using simulated lethal force in a live roleplay, according to a press release from the department.

Lewis declined to discuss the case in detail, including information about the weapon used in the shooting, saying only that "we were unaware that any live ammo for this particular weapon existed."

"We thought for the particular caliber of the weapon used, that there were only blank rounds available to the officer," he said.

Knowlton had been taking part in the event staged by the Citizens Academy, a free, eight-session course of interactive classes for local residents to teach "the role and responsibility of the various city departments and services they provide to the community," according to the Punta Gorda city website.

John Wright, president of the Punta Gorda Chamber of Commerce who was in attendance, said that at first everyone thought Knowlton was acting.

“This was out of the blue,” he said. “A tragic accident. Even when it started to play out people thought it was part of the theater of it. Nobody knew the severity until they told us to move back, about two to three minutes.”

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Steve Knowlton, a son of the woman, told the Associated Press on Wednesday that his father, Gary, witnessed the shooting and is "devastated." He said his parents had been married for 55 years.

Of the officer involved, Steve Knowlton added, "I forgive him ... There's too much hate in this world, in America. We always feel like we need revenge and it doesn't solve anything."

Lt. Katie Heck, public information officer for the Punta Gorda police, said the department has run the "shoot/don’t shoot" scenarios as part of its program for about two years.

"We have done them for the last two Leadership Charlotte police nights, Punta Gorda Citizen’s Academy, and then this was the first police night hosted by our Chamber of Commerce," she said. "In each session four individuals went through the scenarios with no injuries or incident."

Howard Kunik, the Punta Gorda city manager, read a statement Wednesday to reporters at a gathering attended by the mayor and city council members. "We are shocked by this horrific accident and are grieving deeply over Mary's passing," he said.

Kunik said one of the city's first priorities was to involve the police department’s chaplain "to provide assistance and comfort."

Knowlton's Facebook page says she was originally from Austin, Minn., and lived in Punta Gorda.

Carolyn Hartwigsen, of Edina, Minn., told the Associated Press that she was a longtime friend of Knowlton. She said Knowlton had a love of books and tried to instill that in young readers.

Contributing: Michael Braun and Melissa Montoya, The (Fort Myers, Fla.) News-Press