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Retired DC officer charged in shooting of special police officer at library

WASHINGTON — A retired police officer was arrested after police said he fatally shot a special police officer for a library in Washington, D.C., during a training exercise on Thursday.

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According to D.C. police Chief Robert J. Contee III, the library police officer was shot during a training session conducted at the Anacostia Neighborhood Library by Jesse Porter, 58, a retired Metropolitan Police Department lieutenant, WJLA-TV reported.

The victim was identified as Maurica Manyan, of Indian Head, Maryland, The Washington Post reported.

Porter was charged with involuntary manslaughter, according to the newspaper.

First responders were called to the library shortly before 3:45 p.m. EDT, WRC-TV reported. The woman was shot in a downstairs meeting room during a special police training session and was “unconscious and not breathing” when first responders arrived, library officials confirmed to the television station.

“It’s a very tragic situation that we are dealing with here,” Contee told reporters during a news conference.

Contee said Porter was conducting ASP baton training. At some point, the man took out a weapon and fired a shot, striking the woman, WUSA-TV reported. The batons are expandable and commonly used by law enforcement officers, according to the television station.

There were about six people in the room at the time of the shooting, The Associated Press reported.

It is unclear why a live weapon was used during the training or why it was fired, according to WUSA.

“It’s not good practice,” Contee told reporters. “I’m not sure in this situation why the trainer had a live weapon in the training environment. But it is not good practice to do this.”

Porter runs a private company called Porter Consulting and Expert Tactical Training, according to online records.

He appeared in court Friday and was released from custody until his preliminary trial on Aug. 24, according to the Post. He was also ordered to surrender any personal firearms to police and was told not to possess any weapons.

Porter’s attorney declined to comment.

The D.C. Public Library is an independent city agency with its own police department, according to the Post. Officers, who are licensed to carry a weapon, are responsible for public safety in the district’s libraries, spokesperson George Williams told the newspaper.

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