Put away your cell phone at the movies or else

[Bneterasedmynam]

Now sure it's annoying when someone interrupts a movie at the theater with a phone, but this fucker takes it too far.

It started with a father sending text messages to his daughter during the previews of a movie.
It ended with the 43-year-old man shot dead amid the theater seats, and a 71-year-old retired police officer in custody. That man was set to make his first court appearance Tuesday.
Monday's shooting during a 1:20 p.m. showing of "Lone Survivor" at a Wesley Chapel, Florida, movie theater escalated from an objection to cell phone use, to a series of arguments, to the sudden and deadly shooting, according to police and witnesses.


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.


Two seats away Charles Cummings and his son watched the squabbling.


When Reeves returned, he was without a manager.


"He came back very irritated," Cummings 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.



Full story here: http://www.cnn.com/2014/01/14/justic...ing/index.html

[Vieux Normand]

The summary execution of in-theatre phone-junkies should be mandatory in every jurisdiction--unless the movie sucks.

[AKRhino]

The movie hadn't even started yet, it was still playing ads. Crazy.

[It is Fake]

Yes, people now consider previews/trailers part of the movie. I know a fuck ton of people who go to see certain trailers. To me, previews are the safe time to text, talk and walk into the theater late.

[Vieux Normand]

Yes, people now consider previews/trailers part of the movie. I know a fuck ton of people who go to see certain trailers. To me, previews are the safe time to text, talk and walk into the theater late.

Texting during trailers I can understand but, given the earsplitting volume of trailers, how do talkers manage to even hear what's coming out of their phones?

[tgace]

While texting may have been the initial reason these two people met, it was the words and popcorn tossing that prompted the (unlawful) shots.

The old timer should be convicted of murder 2 IMO....

[CapnMunchh]

Texting during trailers I can understand but, given the earsplitting volume of trailers, how do talkers manage to even hear what's coming out of their phones?

Hey, old people can get cranky. Prpbably paid $12 out of his fixed income to see a show, and didnt want to miss any of it. Let that be a lesson to the young fellers who may be tempted to dis the older generation -- you may be a badass, but we got guns.

I agree that shooting was probably too harsh tho, pepper spray or a shock baton would have been more appropriate.

Hey, old people can get cranky. Prpbably paid $12 out of his fixed income to see a show, and didnt want to miss any of it. Let that be a lesson to the young fellers who may be tempted to dis the older generation -- you may be a badass, but we got guns.

I agree that shooting was probably too harsh tho, pepper spray or a shock baton would have been more appropriate.

[CapnMunchh]

But seriously, as a former police captain, its not unreasonable that he carry a gun regularly. Depending on the shooting victim's appearance and demeanor, the defendant could make a good argument that he was afraid for his life; the perceived aggression, as well as a significant disparity between the age and/or size of the people involved could justify the use of deadly force, even if no deadly weapon was displayed by the victim.

[Bneterasedmynam]

For some reason this thread posted twice, anyway to get it merged??

[kamadul]

But seriously, as a former police captain, its not unreasonable that he carry a gun regularly. Depending on the shooting victim's appearance and demeanor, the defendant could make a good argument that he was afraid for his life; the perceived aggression, as well as a significant disparity between the age and/or size of the people involved could justify the use of deadly force, even if no deadly weapon was displayed by the victim.

Which is why stand your ground laws are such bullshit. If he felt that threatened after starting an argument with someone then he needed to go somewhere else.

If you are a willing participant in the creation and escalation of the situation then you should not be able to claim self defense.

[tgace]

After a little FB stalking:

https://scontent-b.xx.fbcdn.net/hpho...99838396_n.jpg

Same names of man and wife...same area of Fla.

[CapnMunchh]

Which is why stand your ground laws are such bullshit. If he felt that threatened after starting an argument with someone then he needed to go somewhere else.

If you are a willing participant in the creation and escalation of the situation then you should not be able to claim self defense.

I agree he most likely overreacted -- it doesnt sound like the victin was the type to commit felonius assault. But I don't think that the defense here is necessarily based on stand your ground laws that do away with a duty to retreat. Even without such a law, he could argue that he couldnt retreat in the confines of the theatre, particularly since he was accompanied by his wife, and the issue then becomes one of ordinary self-defense without any involvement of the stand your ground law.

[kamadul]

I agree he most likely overreacted -- it doesnt sound like the victin was the type to commit felonius assault. But I don't think that the defense here is necessarily based on stand your ground laws that do away with a duty to retreat. Even without such a law, he could argue that he couldnt retreat in the confines of the theatre, particularly since he was accompanied by his wife, and the issue then becomes one of ordinary self-defense without any involvement of the stand your ground law.

I see your point and I'd have to agree.

The only thing being threatened was his ego. Sometimes you just have to be the bigger man and walk away. Killing someone over something so trivial is insane.

Whatever gave him the idea that it was his job to enforce the rules of the theater? It's not his theater. It's not his rule. He had no authority to be telling anyone anything.

[CapnMunchh]

I see your point and I'd have to agree.

The only thing being threatened was his ego. Sometimes you just have to be the bigger man and walk away. Killing someone over something so trivial is insane.

Whatever gave him the idea that it was his job to enforce the rules of the theater? It's not his theater. It's not his rule. He had no authority to be telling anyone anything.

An ego that was probably fed by years of giving orders to subordinates and having them carried out without question. I mean, how many cops argue with their Captain?

This is similar to incidents -- many of which I've heard about in the D.C. area over the years -- where somebody cuts somebody off on the road and flips the bird, and gets a bullet in return. That's happened to me a few times, and I found that laughing it off works real well -- that guy is a frickin maniac! When I hear about a case where people shoot at each other for bullshit like that I figure its a good one for the Twinkie Defense.

Edit: I mean I got the bird, not the bullet!

[kamadul]

I just heard on the local news that he went to his car to retrieve the gun. He did not have it on him during the original confrontation. He's going down for murder.