A retired Tampa police officer allegedly shot two people during an argument over texting inside a Florida movie theater Monday, authorities said.
According to CBS News, Curtis Reeves is being charged with second-degree murder, after a heated argument which led to the 71-year-old shooting a couple, leaving the husband dead and the wife wounded.
Police report stated the disputation began around 1:30 p.m. at a theater in Wesley Chapel. The 71-year retiree reportedly asked Chad Oulson, 43, to stop texting during a showing of "Lone Survivor".
Pasco County Sheriff Chris Nocco said Reeves reportedly became annoyed with the couple in front of them over use of the phones, during the films previews and asked Oulson and his wife, Nichole, to put their phones away several times.
When Oulson refused, Reeves alerted the theater staff, which escalated the confrontation. Moments later, the argument between the two men resumed and ultimately led to Reeves taking out his gun and shooting Oulson twice in his chest.
Oulson died of his injuries and his wife, Nichole, was wounded, while trying to protect her husband.
"The victim was on his cellphone, he was texting. We believe he was making some kind of noise. This noise led to an altercation," Sheriff Nocco said, according to ABC News. "During that altercation, the suspect decided to pull out a .380 and he shoots the victim."
Nocco said that an off-duty police officer, who was not immediately identified, was present at the theater and restrained Reeves until authorities arrived. Reeves, who retired from the Tampa Police Department in September 1993 as a captain, is currently in police custody.
"There were a lot of heroes in that movie theater today," Sheriff Nocco said.
CBS reported that nurses at the scene performed CPR on Oulson. About 25 people were in the theater at the time of the shooting. Charles Cummings, a Vietnam veteran who was watching the movie at the time of the shooting, shared his experience with MyFoxTampaBay.com.
"It ended almost as quickly as it started," Cummings said. "It's absolutely crazy it would rise to this level over somebody just texting in a movie theater. I can't believe people would bring a gun to a movie."
