I'm sure he wasn't, but neither are you or anyone else for that matter. People have confrontations all the time; a minor tiff such as this doesn't really justify a shooting.

If we're to believe the witnesses, someone threw popcorn then the shots rang out. How does someone with a concealed carry license, and a retired police office no less, let the situation escalate to that point?

I think the fact that he was 71 years old played a lot more into the situation than any other factor. Does it excuse it? NO. But how many 71 year olds do you trust with a Drivers License?

Fry that ****.

It would be nice if all the residents of Florida would conceal/carry themselves out of existence.

More reason why we need more Alamo Drafthouses in this world. You text you talk you get thrown the **** out on the first offense.....

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But the simple reality is we'll probably never know the real story in this case, when it comes time to talk to press/court one thing is certain. The wife is going to lie her ass off and the so will the retired cop.

That said there is one telling bit of information in this story....and that's that the wife got shot in the hand because it was between the husband and the cop.

Now that likely happened one of two ways. Either

A...she was trying to hold back her husband because he was going to or was in the process of physically assaulting the retired cop.

Or

B....she was trying to grab the gun out of the hand of the retired cop.

Considering that B is pretty unusual behavior for most people(i.e. more would flee if it's not directly pointed at them) AND a theater is likely fairly dark and it's going to take longer to both notice a gun and recognize what it is.

It's probably much more likely that A was in the process of happening. Now it shuldn't have ever gotten to the point of a physical altercation much less someone being shot but if you're 71 years old and someone starts trying to beat on you in a place where you can't run or get away what would you do? Any significant blow is likely to cause serious injury or death at 71+.

It should never have gotten to that point especially by someone who was a former cop(who reached a captain's rank) who should be trained in how to defuse the situation.

But if you were in his shoes and you're 71 and someone starts hitting you what would you do? You can't run, do you just stand there and get beaten or hope that someone else is going to step in and stop it. Physically he was likely no match for the other guy. What exactly would you have had the guy do if the other guy started beating him?

yawn

No, I am cablanaysian......just like Tiger

Mutha****a........how do you like that?

Lighten up Francis... LOL, the academy!!!

Good on ya' DC...

I'm not defending his actions, I'm just saying maybe the guy said to the retired police officer, "I got a gun and I will not hesitate to shoot you." We don't know everything is my point. The fact is that if this guy would've just stopped texting, he would be alive right now. I'm sure if you could ask him right now he'd say ," I should've just stfu." You don't know what kinds of crazy assholes are out there or who has the ability to kill you in a split second.

I agree.

If ever I'm out and about and someone says something slick to me I ignore them if at all possible. You have no idea what any random strange is capable of..

I was just messing with you, my man. Don't take offense.

You don't get to kill someone for texting.

Everyone in Florida has a gun. 1,000,000 gun owners have a concealed carry permits. Stand your ground law. It has created a atmosphere that its okay to say.........kill a guy for texting.

How do they feel about shooting people who are taller sitting in front of a short person?

If they're gtg I'm moving to Florida to see an unobstructed screen for the first time evah.