Woman Texter's Close Encounter With Accused Movie Theater Gunman
Jan. 2, 2014— -- A Florida woman says the retired police captain accused of shooting a man in a movie theater because he was texting had angrily harassed her over texting in the same theater last month.
"It could have been us," Jamira Dixon told ABC News affiliate WFTS.
Dixon was referring to the shooting Monday in which Curtis Reeves, 71, allegedly shot and killed Chad Oulson in the Wesley Chapel movie theater.
Oulson was texting his daughter's babysitter when Reeves got angry, according to police. The two men argued and then Reeves shot him, police said.
Dixon, 34, and her husband say they shared a chilling encounter with Reeves at the same theater on Dec. 28 when he objected to her texting during the movie previews.
"He gets up, he's like 'can you do me a favor? Can you please just stop texting,'" Dixon told ABC News affiliate WFTS.
She says Reeves went to find the theater managers to complain.
To placate Reeves, Dixon says she turned off her phone, but that Reeves harassed another moviegoer for texting before focusing his attention again on the Dixon family.
"He followed me to the bathroom, and I felt uncomfortable," Dixon told WFTS.
She also said the Reeves' anger appeared to keep escalating. "With every situation you could just his level going more and more," she said.
Dixon said Reeves wife, who was with him at the theater on Dec. 28 and again on Monday, appeared to encourage her husband.
"She was egging him on, telling him to look at me," Dixon said.
After the movie, she said that Reeves was visibly upset and drove from the theater parking lot erratically.
The woman said Reeves made such an impression on her that she could not forget his face.
The Dixon family recently met with police in connection with the Oulson shooting and say they will do whatever it takes to keep Reeves in jail, including testifying at a potential criminal trial, WFTS reported.
