American Law Enforcement and Guns

[Xiahou]

They always seem to try ...

Reeves told the detective that Oulson struck him in the face with an unknown object, and that's when he removed a .380 caliber gun from his pants pocket. The report said Reeves fired the gun and struck Oulson once in the chest and that he "was in fear of being attacked." [...]

"The alleged victim attacked him," Escobar said, adding that Oulson threw something, possibly popcorn, at Reeves. "At that point in time he has every right to defend himself."

And then he was denied bail by the judge because "The evidence of guilt is significant"

There is something to be said for just being nice to people here though- golden rule and all that. The old lunatic was clearly very upset and the victim had several option available to him such as: ignore him; apologize for texting in the theater and go to the lobby to finish texting; put your phone away; or, apparently, throw food at the irate person.....

I'm not sure why he thought that the last option was the best one available to him. I'm sure if he knew it'd result in his getting shot, he most likely would have opted for one of the more neighborly options instead of the one that escalates the conflict.

This in no way is justification for the shooting. But people should think twice before they escalate a confrontation. Sometimes it's better to let your ego take one for the team, back down and de-escalate the situation. I'm sure that probably makes you less of a man, but come on.