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Nicole Oulson took Monday afternoon off from work to have a rare date with her husband, 43-year old Chad Oulson. The couple (image, top) got a baby sitter for their 22-month old daughter and headed to see “Lone Survivor.” Also in the Wesley Chapel, Florida theater: 71-year old retired police captain, Curtis Reeves.
During the previews, Chad Oulson, a Navy vet, was texting the couple’s daughter before the movie was to start. Reeves, who was sitting with his wife behind the Oulsons, was so upset he spoke to Oulson.
“Oulson reportedly said, in effect: I was just sending a message to my young daughter,” according to CNN.
Oulson clearly loved his daughter. His Facebook page is filled with photos of her, along with photos of himself with his wife.
Reports say that someone threw popcorn and then Curtis Reeves pulled out a .380 pistol and shot Chad Oulson. There was an off-duty deputy and two nurses in the theater. None could save Chad Oulson, who died at then hospital.
“I can’t believe people would bring a pistol, a gun, to a movie,” Alex Cummings, a witness sitting near the couples, told the AP. “I can’t believe they would argue and fight and shoot one another over popcorn. Over a cellphone.”
“Blood started coming out of his mouth,” said Alex Cummings. “It was just a very bad scene.”
Reeves, charged with second-degree murder, was arraigned today and denied bail. Based on his lawyer’s comments to the judge, reports state he likely will take advantage of Florida’s very generous Stand Your Ground laws, because popcorn apparently is a threatening weapon.
The Tampa Bay Times reports that Florida’s Stand Your Ground law, which gained national attention during the shooting death of Trayvon Martin, is “already an issue” in the theater shooting.
Under state law, if a person fears death or great bodily harm, he can use deadly force — even if retreat is possible. Since it was passed in 2005, Stand Your Ground has been used in more than 200 cases. In many, the defendant has gone free.
Did 71-year-old retired police captain Curtis Reeves Jr. fear his texting foe, Chad Oulson, 43, was going to kill or severely harm Reeves or his wife, Vivian?
Reeves told Pasco County sheriff’s deputies Monday that Oulson stood up and struck him in the face with an unknown object when they were arguing inside a Wesley Chapel movie theater during previews. Reeves said he was “in fear of being attacked,” according to an arrest affidavit.
CNN added, “On the theaters’ website is a list of prohibited items and actions. Among them: No cell phone use, including texting, in the theater auditorium. And no weapons allowed.”
Our thoughts are with the Oulson family today.
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Image via Chad Oulson’s Facebook page