A former cop has been denied bond after he was arrested for allegedly shooting another man who was texting in a movie theater Monday afternoon.
Curtis Reeves, 71, was charged with second-degree murder Tuesday in court in Tampa, Fla.
Reeves and his wife were sitting behind Chad Oulson, 43, and his wife at a screening of Lone Survivor Monday. Witnesses said Oulson was texting during previews and Reeves asked him to put his phone away.
When the two men began to argue, Reeves walked out of the the theater, ostensibly to go complain to a manager. But when Reeves returned, irritated and without a manager, Oulson said he was just sending a message to his young daughter.
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Witnesses said Oulson threw a bag of popcorn at Reeves as they began arguing, and then Reeves pulled out a .38 semi-automatic handgun and shot Oulson.
Oulson's wife Nicole had raised her hand, and the bullet passed through her hand and hit her husband.
"He said, 'I can't believe I got shot," said Charles Cummings, who was sitting with his father two seats away. "Blood started coming out of his mouth. I was trying to hold him up. He just fell down."
While many of the people inside the theater tried to help Oulson, with a nurse who was in the audience administering CPR until paramedics arrived, he later died after being taken to a hospital.
Reeves, who retired as a Tampa police captain in 1993, did not appear in court Tuesday. Instead, he was contacted from jail via closed-circuit television, but said nothing.
Circuit Court Judge Lynn Tepper denied bond, telling his attorney there was "more than sufficient probable cause" to hold him.
According to a statement released by Cobb Theaters, which operates the Grove 16 theater in Wesley Chapel, weapons are not prohibited inside the auditorium.
[CNN]
