The former cop, 71-year-old Curtis Reeves, is being charged with second-degree murder for the death of Chad Oulson whose wife, Nicole, was also injured. Reeves, who was with his wife, was upset by Chad Oulson's cellphone use during the movie, a witness named Charles Cummings told reporters.
The men reportedly began to argue, and Oulson, 42, inisted he was just calling his daughter.
"Their voices started going up. There seemed to almost be a confrontation," Cummings told reporters. "Somebody throws popcorn; I'm not sure who threw it. And then bang, he was shot."
It doesn't appear the couples knew each other, according to CNN. An off-duty cop reportedly restrained Reeves until help arrived. WFLA.com reports that Reeves was a captain when he retired from the Tampa Police Department in 1993.
"He was instrumental in establishing the department's first Tactical Response Team," the police department said in a news release cited by WFLA. A spokeswoman said she didn't think Reeves had had any contact with the police department since his retirement.