Man Shot To Death For Texting During Movie

An anonymous reader writes "The New York Times reports that an argument over texting ended in a cellphone user's death when a retired police officer in the audience shot him in a theater near Tampa, Florida on Monday. The report notes that 'cinema executives acknowledged during a trade conference last year that they debated whether to accommodate younger viewers by allowing text messages during some movies.'"

Comments

Not "during movie"

[Anonymous Coward]

He was texting during the previews, which, unless things have gotten even worse, do not constitute "the movie". Get your headlines right.

Texting during the *previews*

[Freedom Bug]

Note that the title is wrong -- he was shot for texting during the previews, not during the movie itself.

Dead

[Hypotensive]

In English: shot dead. "Shot to death" implies a long and lingering shooting, with many small bullets that cause you to gradually lose your grasp on life.

Re:Dead

[GungaDan]

Congratulations! You win the award for most incorrect obnoxious pedantry of the day. "Shot to death" is a perfectly acceptable phrasing.

Re:It's about time!

[Bill_the_Engineer]

If you would have taken the time to actually read the news you would have known that the shooter had to leave the theater to retrieve his gun from the car. It is no where in the realm of being self defense.

Re:It's about time!

[clarkkent09]

I read that he left the theater to report the guy who was texting, not necessarily to get his gun.

Article with pictures of the people involved:

[FilmedInNoir]

http://www.ibtimes.co.uk/ex-police-officer-curtis-reeves-shoots-dead-chad-oulson-texting-cinema-1432197
This way you can decide guilt and innocence based solely on physical appearance like Reddit does.

Re:Is it bad that I instantly assumed it's in the

[schwit1]

Regulation probably would not have helped. The shooter is a retired cop. Almost every jurisdiction with gun restrictions makes exceptions for active duty and retired cops.

Re:It's about time!

[Macgruder]

2 things - 1) It was reported that the texting itself occured during the preview trailers, not the movie itself. I've often done that myself, check e-mail and and such during previews, share the information, coordinate schedule with other people who may be attending the movie with us as well. I do agree that once the movie starts, then the phone needs to be put away and put on silent.

2) Other outlets are now reporting that the argument was escalated by the shooting victim, with him yelling at the shooter for 'telling on him', then escalated it further into the physical realm. I suppose at that point I can see how the older man (71) was feeling physically threatened by the younger (43) and felt he had to take immediate action to protect himself.

I'm not saying that's exactly what happened here. I am pointing out that information is still being developed and details are still coming out. It's forlorn hope I admit, but I'd like to think that we could all dial down the outrage until all the facts are learned, then castigate the guilty party(ies) and not just vent uncontrollably based on our own immediate perceptions.

Re:It's about time!

[Kilo Kilo]

It applies in the U.S. as well. It might vary from state to state, but many laws say that the emergency vehicle must come to a complete stop if they do not have the right of way. A lot of FD's (that I've seen) have started training their drivers to be very cautious and drive slower, since there's a tanker rollover accident every other week now. Also, the newest fire trucks have their speeds governed based on their weight.

The cops, (again only the ones I've seen) have a habit of driving as fast as possible and don't like using their sirens, even when blowing through an intersection. This is based on my experiences driving fire trucks and ambulances.

Re:His defense will fail...

[DaveV1.0]

Living in the area and having been to that particular theater and having watched this unfold locally, I would like you to provide a link to a reputable news source that states that. Every news source I have seen states Reeves either left the theater to talk to a manager or simply left the theater and came back a short time later. And, in all cases, Oulson confronts Reeves about Reeves possibly reporting him to the management.

Comments from the cheap seats

[DaveV1.0]

I live in the area and have been watching this unfold in the local news. I am amazed at the comments coming from users who are apparently basing their comments on this one report and their preconceived assumptions.

Let's have some facts:

• The shooter, Reeves, is 71. The victim, Oulson, was 43. Oulson's wife is 33.
• Reeves left the theater for a short time. There are no reports locally that he went to retrieve his gun. There are reports that he went to get a manager.
• Once Reeves returned, he was confronted by Oulson as to whether Reeves reported Oulson to the manager. It was at this time that a physical altercation ensued and Oulson was shot.
• All reports I have seen say a bag of popcorn was thrown. Some reports seem to indicate that Oulson threw the bag of popcorn at Reeves.
• Reeves shot once, hitting Oulson in the chest. Oulson's wife was shot in the hand because her hand was between the gun and Ouslon's chest.

There is a very recent article about Reeve's appearance in court and what

Re:The guy was a retired cop

[PortHaven]

The Law Enforcement Officers Safety Act (LEOSA) is a United States federal law, enacted in 2004, that allows two classes of persons—the "qualified law enforcement officer" and the "qualified retired law enforcement officer"—to carry a concealed firearm in any jurisdiction in the United States, regardless of state or local laws, with certain exceptions.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Law_Enforcement_Officers_Safety_Act

They are the American Nobility...

CNN says the old guy had the gun on him

[tlambert]

You're missing the part where the "threatened" 71 year old left the theater, went to his car, retrieved the gun and then came back and shot the 43 year old. At what point was a beatdown by the 43 year old going on there?

Maybe you are not from the U.S., and you believe "left the theater" means "left the building" rather than "left the room in which the movie was being projected to talk to the management in the massive lobby". In the U.S., a movie complex is a huge thing, and "theater" describes the room with the screen in it, not the building containing the room with the screen in it. He didn't leave the building to get his gun, he had a concealed carry permit, and the gun was on him the entire time.

You really need to read more than one biases source for the story:
http://www.abc15.com/dpp/news/national/curtis-reeves-set-to-make-first-court-appearance-after-florida-theater-shooting

"As a male moviegoer texted, the man seated behind him objected, and asked the texter to put his phone away.
They argued several times, according to police and witnesses, and the man who was texting watched as the other man walked out of the theater. Curtis Reeves, a retired police officer, apparently went seeking a theater employee to complain about the texting, police said." ...
The man who had been texting, Chad Oulson, got up and turned to Reeves to ask him if he had gone to tell on him for his texting. Oulson reportedly said, in effect: I was just sending a message to my young daughter.
Voices were raised. Popcorn was thrown."

Assault, with implied threat of battery.

"And then came something unimaginable -- except maybe in a movie. A gunshot.

Not that unimaginable. This is just sensationalist editorializing on the part of ABC.

The shot went through the wife's hand, which is how she sustained her injury. That places her hand on Oulson's chest, which is typical if one is restraining someone, and atypical behavior for the wife, unless Oulson had exhibited similar behavior in the past.

If Reeves were a crazed nut job, he would have not sat and removed his hands from the weapon and waited for the police.

Re:Cellphones during the movie was debated....

[alanshot]

He clearly was not carrying legally.... The movie theater has a no weapons permitted policy.

Close but no cigar...

In Florida, "no weapons" signs do not carry the weight of law. While he may have broken private property RULES he did not violate LAW.

Now if he was found ahead of time with a gun by staff and asked to leave (the most they can do) THEN he would be guilty of criminal trespass.

Re:Double bind

[gmhowell]

Shooting for legs and arms and shoulders and whatnot is much easier on TV than IRL, and is NOT something that 99.9% of LEO, military, etc. are trained for.