DADE CITY, Fla. – A retired Florida police Captain acquitted of murder in a fatal movie theater shooting speaks exclusively with ABC News following his acquittal.
In 2014, retired Tampa police Captain Curtis Reeves shot and killed 43-year-old Chad Oulsen, after the two got into a fight during the previews of a matinee, and Oulsen threw popcorn in his face. Reeves, now 79, was acquitted of all charges late last month.
“It began rather mundane. Like I would say, I simply asked a gentleman to turn his phone down. I didn’t know him, so consequently I was not rude or anything. It was simply a request. And from that, it just kind of escalated,” said Reeves.
According to authorities, Oulsen brought his phone to check on his them two-year-old daughter.
Oulson was fatally shot in the chest. The bullet also hit his wife, Nicole, piercing through her ring finger as she tried to hold her husband back. She spoke with ABC News in 2014.
“The gunshot wound will heal. it’s a finger. The real pain is in my heart,” said Oulsen.
Reeves was charged with second-degree murder and aggravated battery and spent most of the past eight years on house arrest.
In 2017, a judge ruled he could not claim defense under Florida’s controversial “Stand Your Ground” law. His attorneys instead arguing Reeves had no other choice than to defend himself with lethal force, given his advanced age.
“Had I left up my gun at home, there’s a good chance that I wouldn’t be here today,” said Reeves.
Curtis and his wife Vivian, who was sitting next to him at the theater say they haven’t had any contact with the Oulson family, but there is something she wants Nicole to know.
“I have prayed for the Oulsen family and she’s a young woman, and I sincerely hope that she finds someone else to share her life and to be a good father to her child. I hope she gets on with her life and is happy,” said Vivian Reeves.