How Many Police Officers Have Been Indicted? Florida Police Officer Charged After Shooting Volunteer At Public Demonstration

A Florida police officer who accidentally shot and killed a retired librarian during a citizens police academy demonstration has turned himself into authorities Wednesday after being charged with manslaughter, according to local reports. The chief of police of Punta Gorda, a small city located a few hours south of Tampa, was also charged with misdemeanor negligence.

The police officer, Lee Coel, 28, was charged with felony manslaughter for killing retired librarian Mary Knowlton, 73, last August. Knowlton was randomly selected to participate in a "shoot/don't shoot" role-playing scenario to teach residents how police decide to use deadly force.

But Coel's gun was loaded with ammunition. Knowlton was rushed to a local hospital, where she was declared dead.

The event, which was attended by 35 participants, was put on by the local Chamber of Commerce and the Punta Gorda police as part of a longer class designed to teach residents about the functions of local government. Gary Knowlton, Mary Knowlton's husband of 55 years, was present at the event.

"She volunteered to be the victim in this mock shooting. I was standing 10 feet away from her when the guy shot her," Gary Knowlton told CBS News last year. In November, the city of Punta Gorda and Knowlton's family reportedly reached a $2 million settlement.

Coel was released Wednesday after posting $5,000 bond. Punta Gorda Police Chief Tom Lewis was charged with misdemeanor negligence in connection with the shooting.

The shooting was not the first controversy that emerged from Coel's use of force. Last year, Richard Schumacher, 26, sued the police department and the city of Punta Gorda after Coel's police dog attacked him during a traffic stop on his bicycle. Schumacher, who was reportedly drunk at the time of the incident, lost muscle under his arm during the arrest from the dog's biting. In a dashboard video of the arrest, it doesn't appear that Schumacher is resisting arrest when Coel sets the dog on him.

In 2013, Coel resigned from the Miramar Police Department due to allegations of excessive force, the Miami Herald reported immediately after Knowlton's death.

It is rare for officers to be charged in connection with the death of civilians. A 2015 Washington Post analysis found that between 2005 and 2014, just 54 officers were charged — an average of about five a year. But the number spiked since then. In 2015, the number of officers charged rose to 17.

It is also quite rare for a police officer to actually be convicted of manslaughter or murder. In 2014 and 2015, no officers were convicted of murder or manslaughter in connection with shooting a civilian. In 2015, Michael Slager, a police officer in North Charleston, South Carolina, was caught on video fatally shooting Walter Scott, a 50-year-old black man, but avoided a murder conviction when one holdout juror forced the judge to declare a mistrial in December. Slager will stand trial on federal civil rights charges and could face a second murder trial.

Several other high-profile incidents have led to recent charges filed against officers with trials looming in the coming months.

Betty Shelby, a police officer in Tulsa, Oklahoma, was charged in September with felony manslaughter after fatally shooting Terence Crutcher and will stand trial in May. Jeronimo Yanez, a police officer in Minnesota, was charged with manslaughter in November for fatally shooting Philando Castile and is scheduled to enter a plea at a Feb. 27 hearing.