Florida man shot dead in cinema texting row

[Jazzy]

A retired police officer shot dead a fellow cinemagoer in Florida in an argument over texting, police say.

Ex-officer Curtis Reeves, 71, opened fire after asking a man sitting directly in front of him to stop texting several times, a Pasco County Sheriff spokesman said.

Chad Oulson, 43, died in hospital.

The two men, accompanied by their wives, had been watching the previews for a matinee screening in Wesley Chapel, north of Tampa, on Monday.

The victim had explained that he was texting his three-year-old daughter, witness Charles Cummings told FOX 13 television.

Mr Reeves has been charged with second-degree murder.

The two couples had been waiting to watch the new war film Lone Survivor at the Cobb Grove 16 cinema in Wesley Chapel when the row broke out.

Mr Reeves apparently stormed out of the auditorium to get a manager, but returned without one.

"Three seconds, four seconds later, the argument starts again," Mr Cummings said.

"Their voices start going up; there seems to be almost a confrontation. Somebody throws popcorn, I'm not sure who threw the popcorn, and, bang, he was shot."

Mr Oulson's wife, Nicole, was wounded as she had placed her hand over her husband just as he was shot, sheriff's spokesman Doug Tobin said.

"The male victim is deceased. The female victim was injured with non-life-threatening injuries," Mr Tobin said.

Tampa Police spokeswoman Laura McElroy said Mr Reeves was a captain when he retired from the department in 1993, according to the Associated Press. After he retired, he was on the board of a neighbouring county's Crime Stoppers organisation.

Source

Unbelievable. You're not even safe in a movie theater these days.

 

[Fayble]

First of all, it was during the previews.. Not the main feature!!! Secondly, he was only texting.. Not talking!!! The police officer needed to chill out. But even better, he needs to rot in jail for what he did!

 

[Evil Eye]

What the hell.

How was this person stable enough to be a police officer anyway?

 

[identityissues8]

What the hell.

How was this person stable enough to be a police officer anyway?

If you take a look at his age you'll notice they probably didn't test quite as stringently as they do now.
I wonder how many other people he murdered...Oops, I mean, 'criminals'.