<p>If only one of them had walked away. You see more and more of this where things escalate over trivial stuff. Very sad. I’m sure he will be found guilty of 2nd degree murder, what he has been charged with. He’s 71 and he crossed a line. People really need to see that these challenges aren’t worth it. It is sad for the families, communities and all the witnesses.</p>
<p>I know I’m old-fashion, but if a senior citizen asked me to put my phone away or conduct my business outside, I would have said yes sir and stopped texting. Respect would have avoided this tragic situation.</p>
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<p>Yeah, at some point it was no longer about texting. It was a power struggle thing.</p>
<p>
If it’s really true that the movie hadn’t started yet, I think a lot of people would tell the person that they’d put it away when the movie starts. Others would just tell him to pound sand.</p>
<p>Here’s the issue…in the past, these guys might have yelled “jerk!” to each other…and maybe steamed about it for a few days…now it goes right to the gun.</p>
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<p>I know I’m old-fashioned but if someone had thrown popcorn at me, my reaction wouldn’t be to shoot and kill him.</p>
<p>This morning CNN reported that:</p>
<ol>
<li><p>The deceased was texting, during the previews, with his daughter’s babysitter.</p></li>
<li><p>Another woman has come forward stating that, a few weeks prior to this incident, the shooter had confronted her at the same theater for the same reason. He even followed her to the restroom, ostensibly to intimidate her.</p></li>
</ol>
<p><a href=“http://www.cnn.com/2014/01/15/justice/florida-movie-theater-shooting/index.html?hpt=hp_t1[/url]”>http://www.cnn.com/2014/01/15/justice/florida-movie-theater-shooting/index.html?hpt=hp_t1</a></p>
<p>The Stand Your Ground law assumes that the person can’t get away and must use reasonable force to protect himself or others.</p>
<p>I don’t believe that the excop didn’t know it was popcorn. He’s standing there yelling at the guy. The guy probably had the box in his hand and threw some. That’s not like being hit from behind.</p>
<p>I have read that this happened at night, and I’ve read that it happened in the afternoon. Seems like the media isnt’ getting the time right in some cases.</p>
<p>*Quote:
This won’t hold water. The fear has to be reasonable. Plus, you can’t “pick a fight” and then say that you’re standing your ground when “popcorn” is thrown at you.</p>
<p>=========
Well…</p>
<p>*</p>
<p>Well, what? and why the eye roll?</p>
<p>I know I’m old-fashion, but if a senior citizen asked me to put my phone away or conduct my business outside, I would have said yes sir and stopped texting. Respect would have avoided this tragic situation.</p>
<p>I don’t agree. The victim was a grown man texting the babysitter of his child. I don’t think the age of the shooter matters. </p>
<p>Respect because of senior citizen status isn’t the issue here. Being a senior does not mean that you can boss around grown adults …especially ones who are checking on their kids.</p>
<p>From what we’re learning, this guy had some kind of “tell people what to do” issue going on. Maybe it’s some kind of brain confusion, maybe PTSD (as one psychologist suggested), maybe something else.</p>
<p>None of you have mentioned what I find most damning. The victim’s widow tried to stop the argument by stepping between the cop and her husband. She put her hand on her husband’s chest—and the ex-cop allegedly shot through her hand. She too was wounded. </p>
<p>I don’t know how you justify that.</p>
<p>This old cop must have dementia or PTSD. Sane people do not do this. Not an excuse however.</p>
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I’m old-fashioned about certain things, but no person of any age can tell me to stop texting when I am I have not done anything against the rules. I’d politely say, “No, it’s ok. I’m fine.” And continue texting.</p>
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<p>Sane people who are male and ticked off react in ways that appear later to be insane but at the time they were just being mad and male.</p>
<p>I’m old fashioned too and if it had been old fashioned it would have been merely a fistfight not a gun fight. Because the old man had a gun he could not have punched the younger man for fear of losing his gun.</p>
<p>I agree with TatinG. My first thought was dementia. </p>
<p>When my late father started showing signs of Alzheimer’s, the first clue was uncharacteristic and unreasonable anger. This was a man who almost never raised his voice.
<p>My heart goes out to the families.</p>
<p>I wouldn’t jump to say he has a sever mental illness such as dementia or the like. He could honestly just have a bed temper and poor reasoning skills.</p>
<p>What a pathetic story. I wonder will come out about the retired captain, wonder if serious anger issues, mental illness or dementia is a factor. If he really confronted someone a few weeks ago and followed her to the bathroom, he was looking for confrontation.</p>
<p>I read there were only about 20 people in the theatre. If it really bothered the guy, he could have moved. And as for the poor texter, sometimes you just have to realize there is something seriously wrong with another person starting a confrontation, and you just have to walk away or let it go.</p>
<p>Yeah, I’m kind of over the mental illness defense in most cases, including this one. It seems to be used to excuse a lot of behavior that has more to do with morality and impulse control than anything else.</p>
<p>*None of you have mentioned what I find most damning. The victim’s widow tried to stop the argument by stepping between the cop and her husband. She put her hand on her husband’s chest—and the ex-cop allegedly shot through her hand. She too was wounded. </p>
<p>I don’t know how you justify that.*</p>
<p>Yes, that should have been mentioned. When I read that, it really just enforced in my mind that if this lady had the time to realize a gun had been drawn, and was able to put her hand in front of her H, then the excop had the time to realize that the man was not armed, and it was popcorn that hit him.</p>
<p>This may have been dementia. This may have been some kind of sick power struggle. The thing is that cops deal with stuff FAR WORSE than this, and likely this guy had, too. Heck, cops deal with people holding weapons and only shoot as a very last resort. </p>
<p>Of course, his attorney is going to claim everything under the sun now that the “stand your ground” theory won’t likely go anywhere. </p>
<p>I have no problem with retired cops having concealed carry permits. There is a justification for that. However, maybe once they get to a certain age, there needs to be psych and health evals to determine if they’re still dealing with a full deck.</p>
<p>FWIW, I have a concealed carry permit. I think that I should have to submit to some sort of verification of my mental soundness to keep my driver’s license when I reach a certain age, (maybe a letter from my doctor every 3 - 5 years starting at age 70, for example) and if I should lose my dr. lic. then I should also lose my CCP.</p>
<p>I agree. That’s what needs to happen.</p>
<p>I don’t know what the old cop’s history was while he was on the force. I read he had been a Captain, so presumably he had a good record while on the force. He didn’t go around shooting people without justification. </p>
<p>So, there may be an explanation. Not an excuse, but an explanation. Maybe early dementia. Maybe alcoholism. </p>
<p>Having said that, however, he should get no easy pass from the law. This warrants the maximum penalty.</p>
<p>He had a past of occasional outbursts where his temper got the best of him. </p>
<p>Cop or no cop, he willfully took the life of another. He deserves to be sentenced and convicted of his wrongdoing.</p>