A man headed to the Cobb Grove movie theater in Wesley Chapel for a Monday matinee movie showing with his wife and received a bullet to the chest Monday, Jan. 13.
Land O’Lakes resident Chad Oulson, 43, was shot after an argument over texting during the movie previews with retired Tampa Police Captain Curtis Reeves, 71.
According to the Tampa Bay Times, Reeves asked Oulson to stop texting but Oulson refused, claiming he was texting his daughter’s babysitter. The altercation escalated, resulting in Oulson throwing popcorn at Reeves. The man responded by pulling out a .380 caliber gun and shooting the man in the chest. Reeves was then restrained by another off-duty police officer until authorities arrived.
“It is definitely different hearing about it happening so close to home,” Wesley Chapel resident and senior education major at UT, Chloe Messer, said. “And the fact that it was over texting, something so senseless.”
Messer lives less than 10 minutes away from the theater and is a frequenter of the Grove Plaza shopping center. She was at home when she saw the newsbreak on Twitter and was shocked to hear about the violence in her neighborhood. Messer has texted in a movie theater before but has never seen it offensive enough to result in a shooting.
“I think it is ridiculous that he would even think to pull a gun in a movie theatre and not just shoot, but shoot to kill,” Messer said.
Reeves, the shooter, spent over 20 years as a police officer at the Tampa Police Department and retired as a captain. He has been arrested and charged with second-degree murder. CNN reports that Reeves claims to have felt that his life was threatened. However, the police department has ruled out self-defense, eliminating another Stand-Your-Ground debate.
“Working with the state’s attorney office, it was determined that stand-your-ground law does not fly here in this case,” Pasco County Sheriff Chris Nocco said.
Angel Hubaykah, junior and communication major, was shopping at the center only the day before the shooting and was shocked when she heard the news over the radio. Hubaykah grew up only five minutes away from the shooting and has always believed the area to be a safe, family-friendly neighborhood.
“Knowing that the shooter was a retired police officer does affect my feelings on the situation because current and even retired police officers take the oath to protect and serve,” Hubaykah said. “I actually think the shooter being a cop makes it scarier than an untrained civilian.”
Hubaykah worries that gun control was an issue in the tragedy. Movie theatres are not listed under the protected sites where a weapon holder may not bring a gun on the premises.
“I do believe gun control is an issue and has gotten out of hand, especially with this recent tragedy. It is sad when people cannot go to the movies, school or the mall because the fear of someone walking in with a gun is on their minds,” Hubaykah said.
Being a permitted concealed weapons holder, Reeves was not in violation of the law bringing his firearm into the theatre, despite signs displaying a “no weapons” policy. According to Handgunlaw.us, a website dedicated to inform citizens of U.S. gun laws, the policy of the movie theatre does not stand as law. If a gun holder is specifically asked to leave, they are then in violation of trespassing.
“Unless you were there, I guess you can’t ever really know how things go down and how you feel when it happens,” Messer said. “I definitely wouldn’t shoot to kill someone over a piece of popcorn, unless they had their hands around my throat.”