Officer involved in FL police demonstration shooting previously - WKOW 27: Madison, WI Breaking News, Weather and Sports

PUNTA GORDA, FL (WKOW) -- The officer who shot and killed a 73-year-old woman during a police demonstration earlier this week in Florida was previously accused of using excessive force with his police dog, and had resigned from another police agency in 2013. 

The officer has been identified as Lee Coel, 28. He has been put on administrative leave from the Punta Gorda Police Department. The police chief of Punta Gorda says the fatal shooting of Mary Knowlton Monday was accidental, but there will be a full investigation by the Florida Department of Law Enforcement into why real ammunition was used instead of blanks. 

A spokeswoman for the Punta Gorda Police Department, Lt. Katie Heck says Officer Coel has worked for the department since 2014 and has frequently given department presentations and tours, "specifically role-playing in these shoot/don't shoot scenarios." During such exercises, a civilian may assume the role of the officer and make a decision about whether to use force against someone. Police say it's a way to help people better understand the decisions police officers make every day in intense situations. Heck said Tuesday, Knowlton assumed the role of the officer, and both she and Officer Coel had firearms. Knowlton was mistakenly struck with a live round, officials said.

Meanwhile more information is coming out about Officer Coel's past. He resigned from the Miramar Police Department for "personal reasons," but the News-Press reported he failed to complete an agency field training program. Before that, Coel was with the Broward County Sheriff's Office.

Currently, Officer Coel is being accused of excessive force in another case. Scott Weinberg, a lawyer who represents the man filing the lawsuit, said his client was mauled by Officer Coel's K9 during an arrest in November. The man is suing the City of Punta Gorda and its police department. There is dash cam video of the arrest. Weinberg says, "I told everyone that this officer was dangerous and he needed to be fired," said Weinberg, who didn't identify his client. "If he had been fired like he should have been when he ordered that dog to maul my client for a minute and 47 seconds, then this wouldn't have happened."

Punta Gorda Police Chief Tom Lewis says Officer Coel is upset over the incident at the Citizen Police Academy. "We were unaware that any live ammunition was available to the officer," he said at a news conference Wednesday. "The officer involved is grief stricken. We've got officers assigned to him to make sure he's psychologically stable."

Mary Knowlton's son, Steve, said in an interview on his mother's behalf, he was forgiving of Officer Coel. "There's too much hate in this world, in America, we always feel like we need revenge and it doesn't solve anything," Steve Knowlton said. "I obviously can't say it's easy to forgive, but it needs to be done. She's watching me now."

Knowlton moved to Florida after retiring as a librarian. She and her husband Gary had previously lived in the Minneapolis area.