Witnesses of Wesley Chapel theater shooting testify in day-2 of Curtis Reeves trial
DADE CITY, Fla. - Witness after witness took the stand Tuesday in the trial of Curtis Reeves, the man accused of fatally shooting Chad Oulson in a Wesley Chapel movie theater back in 2014. Tuesday's testimony painted the defendant as angry and aggressive, moments before he pulled the trigger.
Reeves said it was self-defense, but other moviegoers didn’t see it that way.
The jury first heard from Charles Cummings. He says words flew first, and then popcorn, before finally a deadly gun shot.
"Popcorn in the air then a flash, bang," Cummings recalled Tuesday in court.
Cummings was in the Cobb Theater the day Curtis Reeves shot and killed Chad Oulson during an argument over texting. Eight years later, he’s telling a jury about it.
He said after the shooting, he heard Oulson say something.
"He said ‘I can’t believe he shot me,’ recalled Cummings.
He said Oulson fell near his feet.
Cummings and others tried to perform CPR on him before paramedics were called.
Another eyewitness, Jane Roy, was sitting near Chad and his wife, Nicole, when the shooting occurred.
"It was so shocking. I’ve never seen anybody shot before. It was, it was petrifying, and my husband grabbed me and said, ‘Come on, we have to leave,’" she testified.
She says after the popcorn was thrown, Reeves appeared aggravated.
"He was the one that appeared to me to be mad," she recalled.
However, things got heated in the courtroom when Reeves' defense attorney, Rick Escobar, took issue with witness Allen Hamilton, who apparently changed his story about how Chad Oulson was positioned at the time of the shooting, since he gave his initial statement to investigators.
Hamilton originally said Oulsen leaned backward over his seat during his confrontation with Reeves.
"Was he leaning, as your statement said, over there back of his seat?" asked Escobar.
"No, he was not leaning over the back of the seat," replied Hamilton.
Escobar fired back, "Not leaning, even though that’s what you put in your statement? You must’ve been lying then when you made that statement."
Prosecutor Glenn Martin immediately interrupted.
"I object to that characterization," Martin told the judge.
The courtroom drama Tuesday followed day-1 of testimony, where the shooting victim's wife, Nicole finally faced her husband's accused killer in court.
Nicole took the stand, explaining in her own words what happened back on January 13, 2014.
Monday morning started with strong opening statements from both sides of Curtis Reeves' murder trial as prosecutors and the defense explained their argument for the role that Reeves played in the shooting death of Chad Oulson.
Nicole recalled what it was like to watch her husband die.
"I see his eyes were just glazed over and I knew at that moment," she explained. "I told him, ‘Chad, we need you, please hang in there, we need you.’"
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She said Chad was quietly scrolling on his phone before the movie started when Reeves leaned forward and told him to put the phone away. Nicole said her husband may have been waiting for a message from their daughter's preschool.
Nicole Oulson is shown photos of her own hand during day 1 trial of Curtis Reeves, accused of fatally shooting her husband, Chad, in a Florida movie theater in 2014. The bullet first pierced Nicole's hand before it reached her husband's chest.
Everyone agrees that Reeves pulled the trigger in that Wesley Chapel movie theater, but both sides had different reasons as to why. The defense said he was in fear for his life and shooting Oulson was self-defense, but the prosecution said it was because Reeves was angry Chad wouldn’t get off his phone.
When Chad Oulson did not put the phone away, Reeves left to get theater management. When he came back, she says her husband had put his phone away. However, the argument continued to escalate.
MORE: Trial of Curtis Reeves underway 8 years after deadly shooting inside Florida movie theater
Nicole testified that when Reeves came back, he said to Chad, "'I see you put your phone away now that I went to get management.'"
She said her husband responded with the sentiment of, "what's your problem?" but did not become aggressive.
"What were you thinking?" the prosecutor asked.
"Why is this still going on? The phone was away. This should be over," Nicole testified.
She said the next few seconds went by quickly. Despite that, attorneys made her recall it, second by second, having her stand near a poster where a photo of the theater seats leaned on an easel for the jury to see.
Nicole Oulson stands between a poster board and TV monitor during day 1 trial of Curtis Reeves, accused of fatally shooting her husband, Chad in a Florida movie theater in 2014
She says she didn’t see the moment that Oulson threw popcorn on Reeves, nor any other aggression until that fatal shot. She says she was trying to tap her husband to get him to turn around, and that’s when Reeves fired. But the defense argued that as a retired police captain, Reeves would be able to recognize a dangerous situation.
Nicole was also hit in the hand after Reeves fired that shot inside the theater. She said as soon as it happened, she knew her husband was not OK.
The jury saw graphic images of Nicole Oulson's injured hand, with her left ring finger nearly severed after the bullet went through it. She was asked to stand and show the jury her "disfigured" hand, years after the shooting, with scars from surgeries she said she had to undergo to repair the damage.
Photo of Nicole Oulson's hand shown to jurors during day 1 of trial of Curtis Reeves, accused of fatally shooting Chad Oulson in a Florida movie theater in 2014
Now, the defense says that contrary to previous testimony, Oulson did more than just throw popcorn at Reeves. They say he also jabbed him and threw his phone at him.
There’s still a lot of questions jurors need answers to before any verdict can be made. Tuesday, the jury is expected to hear from more witnesses who were inside the theater at the time of the deadly shooting and can provide additional insight into what happened.