Speaking for the first time since her husband's tragic death, Nicole Oulson described how a romantic day at the movies turned into a nightmare when her husband was shot by another patron. INSIDE EDITION explains.
The heartbroken widow of the movie fan who was shot dead over texting is speaking out for the first time since the senseless tragedy.
Nicole Oulson said in a press conference, “Just to think that in the blink of an eye my whole world just got shattered into a million pieces and now I’m left to pick them up and put then all back together and it's so hard and it's so unbearable.”
Fighting back tears, Nicole described how a romantic day at the movies turned into a nightmare.
“Me and my husband didn't get a date night very often, much less a whole day to spend together. So, I was so excited and looking forward to spending the day with love of my life at a place of entertainment, family entertainment,” she said.
As they were waiting for the start of the new Mark Wahlberg movie Lone Survivor, her husband, Chad texted their daughter's babysitter to find out how the little girl was doing because she was sick. That's when she said retired police Captain Curtis Reeves, who was sitting behind them, lost it. He told Chad to stop and even kicked his chair.
They exchanged angry words, and then 6’4” Chad stood up and allegedly tossed a bag of popcorn at Reeves. Reeves pulled a gun and shot him, claiming self-defense.
INSIDE EDITION's Les Trent spoke to HLN's Nancy Grace, "You can argue that Chad standing 6'4" was somewhat of an imposing figure, could you not?"
Grace replied, "The moment Reeves pulls out a weapon, size does not matter anymore. How you could possibly argue that throwing popcorn at Reeves and justifies him pulling out a weapon and opening fire in a crowded movie theater? No way. It is not going to work. Bring it on."
Interestingly, under Florida law anyone over 65 has special protections against assault.
Grace said, "I understand that in Florida that assault on the elderly is considered a felony and that is true in many jurisdictions. But, if you mean that throwing popcorn at someone is the assault on the elderly, I don't think that is going to work."
Nicole Oulson was shot in the hand as she reached out to protect her husband. Her attorney, TJ Grimaldi said, “She is kind of shocked. She doesn't understand what he was defending himself over.”
Then, there's this tragic twist—it turns out both Chad and Reeves are Navy veterans. Under different circumstances, they might have been friends.
At Chad's funeral, his wife was inconsolable. Now, she's left to raise their little girl on her own.
She said, “Right now I'm just still trying to recover from the shock. My main focus is and always will be on my daughter Alexis.”
