Retired police captain Curtis Reeves has been acquitted by a Florida jury. In 2014, he was accused of second degree murder and aggravated battery. Reeves shot Chad Oulson during an altercation at a Wesley Chapel movie theater, outside Tampa, in Florida.

When 43-year old Chad Oulson was out on a movie date with his wife, he sent a text message during the previews for “Lone Survivor.” The message was sent to his young daughter’s babysitter. This led to an argument with Reeves, who asked Oulson to put his phone away.

Oulson reportedly grabbed and threw a bag of popcorn on Reeves. Reeves took put a handgun and shot at Oulson and his wife was injured in the hand during the shooting. However, the bullet hit Oulson’s chest and a nurse who was also at the theater conducted CPR. He died at the hospital.

The retired police officer, who was 71, told the authorities that he had been “in fear of being attacked.” His attorneys mounted a self defense argument and said that Oulson threw a cellphone on his head. They also said that he was aggressively leaning over a chair towards the retired officer.

Prosecutors argued that popcorn was not a weapon. They also said that witnesses did not see Oulson throwing a cellphone at Reeves.

The case dragged on for almost eight years due to reasons such as several motions, pre-trial hearings as well as the pandemic as Covid-19 disrupted the normal functioning of the entire nation.

Friday evening, the jury began their deliberations after a nine-day trial. They pronounced Curtis Reeves not guilty and acquitted the officer.

The state prosecutor mounted a strong defense arguing that Reeves had killed a human being next to his wife for no reason at all. As expected, Oulson’ s wife is shattered by the jury verdict.