I'm with you on this. The shooter asked them to stop texting several times then got up and went to the theater management/employees and reported the situation to them. When he returned the other guy initiated a confrontation. What is not being reported is what happened and was said during that confrontation right before the shooting. If he threatened the retired cop and the man took it as a direct threat to his life then the situation changes. There is a lot in this story we do not know.
Florida does have a stand your ground law that is very clear that you have no duty to retreat of try and get away. This is a sad situation but we do not know where the legalities fall right now.
I have and will again turn someone in for texting or talking on a phone after the lights go down and I'm watching the previews or the movie. I paid for the ability to watch what I want to watch. I do not justify the cops shooting this guy but I do understand his frustration and up until he pulled the trigger he was well within his rights to do what he did and say what he said.
Florida law also says that a person is justified in the use of deadly force and does not have a duty to retreat if he or she reasonably believes that such force is necessary to prevent imminent death or great bodily harm to himself or herself. The shooter was not struck. He was not attacked. The victim had no weapon. Nobody in their right mind could possibly classify this as a situation where deadly force was justified.
” The shooter asked them to stop texting several times then got up and went to the theater management...”
Did he? Or did he, as the article suggested, go to his car and retrieve his weapon before returning to his seat. If there is video, his arse is toast. It probably is anyway. You don’t murder a man for texting before the movie has even started, or for throwing popcorn. This ex-JBT is a mental case and has apparently exhibited this kind of behavior before.
Put him under the jail.
this older guy is just an arrogant jerk....he had every opportunity to leave before being critically wounded by that supposed popcorn, and it can be argued, he came back to the scene....he not only didn't retreat, he specifically engaged this younger man....