
Curtis Reeves, the 71-year-old retired police captain who shot and killed a man who was texting in a Florida movie theater on Jan. 13, attended his bail hearing yesterday, and more details about the shooting came to light.
A witness who overheard the fight testified that after Reeves complained about the texting, the victim, 43-year-old Chad Oulson, said, “Do you mind? I’ve got a voicemail from my babysitter. I’d like to check to see that my daughter is okay.” After more requests to stop using his phone, Oulson got up and threw a small bag of popcorn at Reeves, who immediately grabbed his gun and opened fire.
Alan Hamilton, an off-duty police officer who also attended the screening, testified that after the shooting, Reeves’s wife said to her husband, “That was no cause to shoot anyone,” to which he was heard to respond, “You shut your [expletive] mouth and don’t say another word.” But when Oulson made gurgling sounds and it became apparent he might not survive, Reeves reportedly exclaimed, “I can’t believe what I’ve done.”
Reeves’s lawyer suggested that his client was defending himself from Oulson, who invaded his personal space. Hamilton told the court that Reeves approached him after the shooting and said, “I just got hit by something. Look at my eye,” but he saw no injury on Reeves’s face.
Oulson’s widow, Nicole, was present in the courtroom, and sobbed into a handkerchief. Reeves officially pleaded not guilty to second-degree murder.
Here is today’s report.
—Jennifer Mascia
via The Gun Report: February 6, 2014 – NYTimes.com.
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