Retired police officer kills fellow movie-goer over texting dispute

[L0gic]

Just glad nobody shot me or my son for taking these pics.

Tolerance, it really is a tough thing nowadays because everybody wants everything their way.

3D looks like that without glasses? I have not been to a theater in a long time....

What ever happened to the days of good old fist fights where both sides got to walk away from the incident. Guess those fist fights went too far, somebody died, and now everybody feels the need to shoot first, ask questions later. Can't even get into a food fight without fear of getting shot.

Below is what happened to fist fights. The chicken-hawk (looney-toons) found that there are bigger people in this world that he can't bully, so he went and got a gun so there would be no one he couldn't bully.

As far as the shooter being an ex-cop, it does bear merit in this case. The anti's believe only police and military should be allowed to access firearms and this is a clear case of them being just as human as the rest of us non-enlisted. A lot of anti-2A laws are crafted to specifically exclude current and retired LEO's from the laws just to maintain favor with the police unions. Look up the Standford Prison experiment and decide for yourself if the Badge of a LEO attracts bullies to the job or the Job makes bullies out of normal people because of the power-trip.

 

[Rack&Roll]

Yup.

The standard to shoot someone else lawfully is if a reasonable person believes their life, or someone else's is in grave and eminent threat. Some states include sexual assault and others also include private property.

It makes for a great headline to say "texter gets shot" but we really don't know what happened. Did the texter threaten and then produce a weapon to back up that threat? Starting the argument with "sir, please stop texting" doesn't necessarily mean the shooter was at fault. I hope the details come out.

Nevertheless it's a good opportunity to review what a lawful decision would be if you or I were in that situation.

I could be wrong, but I don't know of any lawful shooting allowed to protect private property from being vandalized or stolen.

I know that G&S in MD focuses on people like bankers, jewelers and doctors who carry property that thieves want, but the CC permit is only their to protect one's life against harm or death in the act of having property taken, not to prevent the theft of the property.

 

[gamer_jim]

I could be wrong, but I don't know of any lawful shooting allowed to protect private property from being vandalized or stolen.

I know that G&S in MD focuses on people like bankers, jewelers and doctors who carry property that thieves want, but the CC permit is only their to protect one's life against harm or death in the act of having property taken, not to prevent the theft of the property.

Texas does, i don't know if other states do.

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[Rack&Roll]

Texas does, i don't know if other states do.

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Damn…you are right. Googled it and while legal, I don't know of any property worth the civil suit that follows...

 

[Hopalong]

This story is no longer headlining on any of the major news sites. Looks like the gun control appeal of this incident was meager.

 

[Boxcab]

I do not trust the article as written, such as,

Oulson was fatally wounded. His wife was hit, too, through the hand as she raised her hand in front of her husband as the shooter drew a handgun.

Oulson staggered toward the Cummings and fell on them, Charles Cummings said.

The shooter sat down and put the gun in his lap

How someone falls "up hill" (sitting in front at a movie theater/stadium seating) into the direction the bullet(s?) came from is interesting dynamics. Hard to explain unless his momentum was already in that direction (coming over the seat?).

But the shooter sitting down afterwards indicates he was standing and did not end up "under a body".

Hard to get a real read on this with the info supplied.

 

[pbharvey]

I do not trust the article as written, such as,


How someone falls "up hill" (sitting in front at a movie theater/stadium seating) into the direction the bullet(s?) came from is interesting dynamics. Hard to explain unless his momentum was already in that direction (coming over the seat?).

But the shooter sitting down afterwards indicates he was standing and did not end up "under a body".

Hard to get a real read on this with the info supplied.

Cummings is a witness, not the shooter. I assumed he was seated in the same row as the deceased.

Two seats away Charles Cummings and his son watched the squabbling.

 

[eruby]

the guy texting should have put his stupid phone away...and none of it would have happened....

+1,000,000,000

Very uncivilized.

This wouldn't have happened if the theater had been in Howard County.

 

[Boxcab]

Cummings is a witness, not the shooter. I assumed he was seated in the same row as the deceased.

Good pickup. Still appears to have fallen into the shot though.

 

[ALBY]

Here is the moral of the story: when two assholes get together and one has a gun, one ends up dead and the other goes to rot in jail for the rest of their life.

This is nothing new. Most murder is not planned, it happens during conflict with hot blood.

Reminds me of my favorite Md shooters line: Play stupid games, Win stupid prizes!

 

[Publius]

I favor 'stand your ground' laws because I think armed non-LEO should not have to run from a bad situation. But I think they have a duty to walk away from a bad situation. I agree 100% with the point that newspaper reporting accuracy stinks. But ignore for a moment exactly what happened in there, and just look at the outcome. Is it worth destroying two families, spending a big chunk of your life savings on a good lawyer, and probably spending the rest of your life in a cell (plus watch your wife live like a widow, assuming she doesn't abandon you) over some jerk texting in a theater? If you are not thick-skinned, either go to the theater without the gun or wait for the DVD to come out.

 

[Rich1911]

Ok, I think when he supposedly went to get a manager he actually went to his car and got his gun ....

 

[PJDiesel]

Ok, I think when he supposedly went to get a manager he actually went to his car and got his gun ....

Whoa.

Source on that??

 

[Rich1911]

Whoa.

Source on that??

Just an assumption - like every other comment in this thread.

 

[Kman]

I favor 'stand your ground' laws because I think armed non-LEO should not have to run from a bad situation. But I think they have a duty to walk away from a bad situation. I agree 100% with the point that newspaper reporting accuracy stinks. But ignore for a moment exactly what happened in there, and just look at the outcome. Is it worth destroying two families, spending a big chunk of your life savings on a good lawyer, and probably spending the rest of your life in a cell (plus watch your wife live like a widow, assuming she doesn't abandon you) over some jerk texting in a theater? If you are not thick-skinned, either go to the theater without the gun or wait for the DVD to come out.

Especially when it was reported this happened during the movie previews. Not that I would gun someone down for texting during the actual movie.

 

[wilcam47]

3D looks like that without glasses? I have not been to a theater in a long time....



Below is what happened to fist fights. The chicken-hawk (looney-toons) found that there are bigger people in this world that he can't bully, so he went and got a gun so there would be no one he couldn't bully.

As far as the shooter being an ex-cop, it does bear merit in this case. The anti's believe only police and military should be allowed to access firearms and this is a clear case of them being just as human as the rest of us non-enlisted. A lot of anti-2A laws are crafted to specifically exclude current and retired LEO's from the laws just to maintain favor with the police unions. Look up the Standford Prison experiment and decide for yourself if the Badge of a LEO attracts bullies to the job or the Job makes bullies out of normal people because of the power-trip.

I saw that video a couple years ago...and its still great!

 

[Half-cocked]

3D looks like that without glasses? I have not been to a theater in a long time....







Below is what happened to fist fights. The chicken-hawk (looney-toons) found that there are bigger people in this world that he can't bully, so he went and got a gun so there would be no one he couldn't bully.



As far as the shooter being an ex-cop, it does bear merit in this case. The anti's believe only police and military should be allowed to access firearms and this is a clear case of them being just as human as the rest of us non-enlisted. A lot of anti-2A laws are crafted to specifically exclude current and retired LEO's from the laws just to maintain favor with the police unions. Look up the Standford Prison experiment and decide for yourself if the Badge of a LEO attracts bullies to the job or the Job makes bullies out of normal people because of the power-trip.

"Hodor!"




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[Safetech]

Ever think maybe he developed mental illness and was batshit crazy? It happens in all walks of life.

I was thinking the same thing.

Retired police officers are just as likely to suffer from Alzheimer's as anyone else.

Years ago, at the senior apartments a few blocks from me, two man had words about one of them sitting in his wheelchair in front of the other guy's mailbox.

Mailbox guy leaves, goes up to his apartment, comes back with a gun, and shoots the guy in the wheel chair dead. He then pushed him out of the way, got his mail, and went back to his apartment.

Turned out guy had Alzheimer's pretty bad.

 

[fabsroman]

I'd like to see the police report too along with any Witt ESS statements. You keep alluding to " the article" you read. I read articles in MSNBC, FOX news CNN and a Couple of Florida based local papers. Read more than one article and you'll note varying information. You have to Google these sources yourself as I don't run errands.

You'll have to quote these sources yourself as I provide neither support nor evidence to backup somebody else's argument. Want to have an intelligent conversation, you need to do some work to support your side. Too lazy to do the work, then you aren't convincing me of anything.

I'm always willing to listen, except to BS. I surely am not willing to do the work to attempt to validate an argument that I don't even think is valid based upon the evidence I do have.

 

[fabsroman]

This story is no longer headlining on any of the major news sites. Looks like the gun control appeal of this incident was meager.

Yep, the story has been replaced by a school shooting in New Mexico where an 11 year old brought a shotgun to class in a band instrument case and shot two other school mates around the age of 11.

I need to stick my head in the sand because reading the headlines is nothing but depressing.