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This topic comprises 2 pages: 1 2
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Author
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Topic: Shooting in Tampa Fl. Cobb Theatre
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Don Furr
Jedi Master Film Handler
Posts: 509
From: Sun City, Ca USA
Registered: Nov 2002
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posted 01-13-2014 05:18 PM
A filmgoer irked that other audience members were texting at a Mark Wahlberg war movie opened fire in a Florida theater Monday, killing a man and wounding a woman, authorities said.
The Grove 16 Theatre in Wesley Chapel, north of Tampa, was evacuated after the shooting about 1:20 p.m. ET.
A male suspect was in custody thanks to the quick thinking of a good Samaritan who detained the man until authorities arrived, said Doug Tobin, a spokesman for the Pasco County Sheriff's Office.
The victims were airlifted to a Tampa hospital, where the man was pronounced dead and the woman was being treated for non-life-threatening injuries, Tobin said.
"Everybody is paranoid, they're scared, because a movie theater should be somewhere safe where people are out there to enjoy themselves," Pasco County Sheriff Chris Nocco told reporters.
"But unfortunately, what America has seen over the last couple of years is that movie theaters have become dangerous places," he said in an apparent reference to the mass killings at a theater in Aurora, Colo., in July 2012.
None of the participants was identified, and Nocco wouldn't disclose how the good Samaritan managed to subdue an armed man, saying the investigation was still underway.
But Nocco did confirm that "what we believe is this was over somebody texting."
Nocco said the dispute was confined to two couples who happened to be sitting near each other as the preview trailers were rolling just before the showing of "Lone Survivor," the Mark Wahlberg movie about a failed 2007 Navy Seal raid in Afghanistan.
"So during this time, the victim was on his cellphone. He was texting — we believe he was making some type of noise," Nocco said.
"This noise led to an altercation between the suspect and the victim," Nocco said. "During the altercation, the suspect decided to pull out a .380 [caliber gun], and he shoots the victim. There's another shot that was fired at the time."
Shaking his head, Nocco said: "It's absolutely crazy that it would arise to this level of altercation over somebody just texting in a movie theater."
The theater remained closed late Monday afternoon, said its operator, Cobb Theatres.
"We are truly heartbroken by this incident," it said.
http://usnews.nbcnews.com/_news/2014/01/13/22292711-man-shot-and-killed-for-texting-at-florida-movie-sheriff?lite
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Leo Enticknap
Film God
Posts: 7474
From: Loma Linda, CA
Registered: Jul 2000
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posted 01-14-2014 11:54 PM
quote: Bobby Henderson
Reports also say the retired cop left the theater to find a manager, but gave up on that, returned to his seat and pursued the argument with the phone user. I think that's going to be an important issue if a "stand your ground" self-defense claim is made. A smart person would have been persistent about finding a theater manager (which really isn't hard to do). If management refused to do anything about the situation the customer could demand a refund. The retired cop did exactly what he should not have done: go back into the theater and get into it with a total stranger.
According to a report on NPR just now, the gunman (Reeves) claims that he saw the deceased put his hand in his pocket, which he thought, incorrectly, was reaching for a gun: at that point, he drew his own and fired. In other words, he's claiming that the shooting was in legitimate, pre-emptive self-defence. Needless to say, no gun was found in the victim's pocket.
Agreed completely with Bobby that this man at the very least acted was monumentally stupid in creating a totally unnecessary confrontation, let alone a fatal one. There was a fatal stabbing in a British cinema in the '90s under very similar circumstances, the only difference being that smelly fast food rather than texting was the cause of the initial confrontation. Sadly, stupid people will do stupid things.
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Marcel Birgelen
Film God
Posts: 3357
From: Maastricht, Limburg, Netherlands
Registered: Feb 2012
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posted 01-15-2014 03:28 AM
quote: Joe Redifer
The theater where the shooting took place now has a complete ban on electronics. Not sure how they plan to enforce that but there you go. At least it'll make it so that when people pull 'em out in an auditorium they can be ejected.
Sorry, you can't bring your pacemaker or hearing aid with you, but since your gun is a purely mechanical device, no problemo.
In the digital age, it shouldn't be hard to run a trailer for each and every presentation indicating when the silent period starts.
I personally don't mind people talking or texting while commercials are playing and the house lights are still on or dimmed. Unfortunately, every chain or rather every location implements its own more or less consistent sequence of events before the feature starts, making it hard for some people to recognize when the actual movie starts. Often people keep on talking and texting right into the feature presentation, sometimes right until the first dialogue starts: Hey, ssht, the movie is apparently on...
So, whether or not those visual cues regarding when to shut your face and fingers are a bit childish, some people rather seem to need them.
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