Lawyer: “He Was Going to Kill Somebody.” Officer Who Killed Librarian Had Dubious History

By Bob Owens

The story behind the shooting death of a 73-year-old retired librarian by a police officer during a citizens academy meeting in Punta Gorda just keep getting worse.

Lee Coel, the 28-year-old officer who fired the fatal shots, was already the subject of an excessive force complaint for allegedly allowing his K9 to maul a suspect nine months ago.

The lawyer for a man who lodged an excessive force complaint against the Florida cop who mistakenly shot and killed a 73-year-old woman Tuesday said he’d warned people the officer “was going to kill somebody.”

Attorney Scott Weinberg represented Richard Schumacher in an excessive force complaint against Punta Gorda Police Officer Lee Coel, 28. The grievance stemmed from an incident that occurred just nine months before Coel shot Mary Knowlton during a public “shoot/don’t shoot” demonstration.

“I was demanding that he be fired months ago, and I was warning people he was going to kill somebody,” Weinberg told The News-Press.

Weinberg, who termed Coel a “cowboy,” said his client was severely injured when he was mauled by Coel’s K-9 for several minutes on Oct. 30, 2015. Coel allegedly unleashed the dog after he claimed Schumacher resisted arrest. Coel had initially pulled …Read the Rest

Source:: Bearing Arms