A retired D.C. police lieutenant has been charged with involuntary manslaughter after a library officer was fatally shot Thursday during a training exercise at a library branch in Southeast Washington, according to a police spokesman.
The spokesman, Dustin Sternbeck, identified the retired lieutenant as Jesse Porter, 58, who left the force in November 2020. He lives in Northeast Washington.
Sternbeck identified the officer who died as Maurica Manyan, 25, of Indian Head, Md., in Prince George’s County.
Porter was being held Friday morning. It could not immediately be determined whether he had an attorney.
The shooting occurred about 3:30 p.m. at the Anacostia neighborhood library in the 1800 block of Good Hope Road SE.
Police said the Porter had been contracted by the library to provide training for some of its officers on the use of extendible batons. Police Chief Robert J. Contee III said it was unclear why a live firearm was involved in the training but that “it is not good practice to do that.”
The library police officer, who was shot near the end of the training session, was pronounced dead at a hospital, police said.
“It’s a very tragic situation that we are dealing with here,” Contee said.
The chief said about six people were in the room at the time of the incident, including the trainer, the victim and several other library police officers.
The D.C. Public Library is an independent city agency that has its own police department. Its officers, who are licensed to be armed, are responsible for public safety at library locations, said library system spokesman George Williams.
Thursday at the library was supposed to be a “job readiness” day, where neighborhood residents could stop by for help setting up emails and preparing their résumés. By evening, the library had posted signs on the door saying the building was closed because of an emergency
