Family members of a D.C. police officer who was fatally shot during a training session shared their anger and pain for the first time on Friday.
Special Police Officer Maurica Manyan, of Indian Head, Maryland, died after ex-officer Jesse Porter shot her at a training session inside the Anacostia Neighborhood Library, police said. Manyan was 25.
"This is the absolute last place my family wished to physically and emotionally be,” Manyan's cousin, Leo Richards, said at a news conference the family held outside the library.
It was the first time since Manyan’s death that the family visited the place where she died.
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"Ultimately, we need answers," Richards said.
Porter, a retired D.C. police lieutenant, led the training session held on Aug. 4.
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About five officers wanted a group picture taken at the end of the training, a court affidavit says. Manyan was the subject of some playful jokes about her hair and said she wanted to take off her mask. That’s when Porter pulled out his gun and fired, the document says.
"To read that Jesse believed it was joke to aim a live weapon at a member of law enforcement, my cousin, is absolutely disgusting," Richards said.
Porter, 58, was arrested and and charged with involuntary manslaughter.
The training session was about how to use a police baton and how to handcuff subjects.
Court documetns say there were several “training weapons” on hand. The weapons are bright orange and cannot fire.
A witness said in the documents that Porter pointed one of the training weapons at Manyan earlier.
Investigators say she was shot and killed with Porter’s 9mm glock.
"It’s not an accident when you pick up a gun as a trained law enforcement officer, point that gun and pull the trigger," the family's attorney Chelsea Lewis said.
Members of Manyan's family said they knew there was a certain amount of danger in her work as a special police officer, but the source of the danger that took her life was unexpected.
“For it to be a baton training and for it to be a retired police who should know the difference between a live weapon and a fake one,” Manyan's brother, Radcliffe Manyan, said.
The family has not yet filed a lawsuit, but said their attorneys are investigating the shooting.
A spokesperson for the family said they will seek accountability from the agencies involved.
Porter was released on his own recognizance after an initial court hearing earlier this month.
Special police officers are certified by D.C. and contracted to guard properties. They can carry guns while on duty, the Metropolitan Police Department says.
Stay with NBC Washington for more details on this developing story.
