Curtis Reeves Trial: Witnesses recall day of deadly movie theater shooting as third day of testimony resumes
DADE CITY, Fla. - Those who were in the same movie theater as Curtis Reeves and Chad Oulson back in 2014 when the deadly shooting took place will take the stand Wednesday.
Reeves, who is now 79, is charged with second-degree murder. He is accused of fatally shooting Oulson in the Wesley Chapel theater. 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.
On Tuesday, Charles Cummings was the first witness to testify. He said he remembers the two men arguing and seconds later, popcorn being thrown.
"Popcorn in the air then a flash, bang," Cummings recalled Tuesday in court.
RECAP: Trial of Curtis Reeves underway 8 years after deadly shooting inside Florida movie theater
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.
Theater shooting witnesses testify on day 2 of Curtis Reeves trial
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.
He said Oulson fell near his feet.
PREVIOUS: Witnesses of Wesley Chapel theater shooting testify in Day-2 of Curtis Reeves trial
Cummings and others tried to perform CPR on him before paramedics were called.
Jane Roy was also there that day, and her testimony painted Reeves as the aggressor.
"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.
Former Tampa Police Captain Curtis Reeves straightens his tie while attending the first day of jury selection for his second-degree murder trial on Monday, Feb 7, 2022, at the Robert D. Sumner Judicial Center in Dade City. Reeves is accused of shooti
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 Oulson 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.
PREVIOUS: Trial of Curtis Reeves: Theater shooting victim's wife recalls watching 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.’"
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.
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.
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.
Testimony resumes Wednesday morning.