DADE CITY, Fla. (AP) — A former police officer accused of killing a man in a movie theater during a dispute over texting had used his own phone to send a message to his son minutes before the shooting, according to documents released Thursday by Florida prosecutors. 
 
 FILE- In this Feb. 5, 2014 file photo, Curtis Reeves looks into the gallery Wednesday, Feb. 5, 2014, during a court bond hearing in Dade City, Fla. Records show that a Reeves who reportedly shot a man... (Associated Press) 
 
 Curtis Reeves' son, Matthew Reeves, told detectives that his father texted him at 1:04 p.m. Jan. 13, the documents show. Curtis Reeves told his son he was already seated inside the theater. Matthew Reeves, who is a Tampa police officer, made plans to meet his parents at the theater for the 1:20 p.m. showing of "Lone Survivor" but was late because he stopped to wash his truck, he told detectives. 
 
 Matthew Reeves said he had walked into the dark theater while the previews were playing and looked around for his parents. It was then, investigators said, that Reeves shot 43-year-old Chad Oulson. 
 
 "Matthew said he did not see the shot directly, but the noise and light drew his attention to the top row of seats," Pasco County Sheriff's detective Aaron Smith wrote. 
 
 Matthew Reeves tried to help Oulson by pressing a stranger's T-shirt against Oulson's bleeding chest wound. 
 
 Curtis Reeves, 71, was charged with second-degree murder. He also was charged with aggravated battery; authorities say the bullet that struck and killed Oulson also struck Oulson's wife, Nicole, in the finger as she tried to shield her husband. 
 
 Reeves has pleaded not guilty to both counts. If convicted, he faces a mandatory minimum of 25 years in prison. 
 
 Reeves is being held without bail in the Pasco County Jail. His attorneys say Reeves acted in self-defense. Reeves told police that Oulson hit him in the face, possibly with a cellphone. Other witnesses, including Reeves' wife, say they never saw Oulson strike Reeves. 
 
 Reeves' attorneys did not immediately return a call for comment regarding the hundreds of pages of newly released discovery evidence documents. A judge ruled Wednesday that the documents could be released publicly. 
 
 In early February, the evidence was sealed from the public for 30 days so Reeves' attorneys could review it and perhaps challenge all or parts of its release to the public. They had no challenges Wednesday, largely because much of the information was released during a two-day bond hearing. 
 
 A chunk of the documents are from Reeves' personnel file from his decades as a Tampa police officer. Reeves regularly received outstanding evaluations and numerous letters of commendation for leadership skills and for training he led on gun safety and other topics. He retired in 1993. 
 
 The file also contains an interview with Jamira Dixon, a 35-year-old woman who said that in December, Reeves became upset with her because she was texting in the same movie theater. During the incident, she said, Reeves complained to a manager, then continued to stare at her throughout the movie and made her feel uncomfortable. 
 
 The documents also offer witness interviews of the Jan. 13 shooting. They reveal the chaos and confusion in the theater when Oulson was shot. 
 
 Edward McFadden, 76, told Pasco County Sheriff's detective Matthew Myers that he was seated in the theater and heard a loud noise behind him. 
 
 "He told me it sounded like a gunshot, but he wasn't sure if it was real or from the previews because they had just shown a preview for 'Robocop,' which had a lot of gunshots in it." 
 
 ___ 
 
 Follow Tamara Lush on Twitter at http://twitter.com/tamaralush 

 Curtis Reeves Jr., accused of fatally shooting a man in a movie theater during an argument over texting, himself sent a text message from his seat in the Wesley Chapel Cobb 16 Theatres. 
 
 The revelation comes from court documents released Wednesday in the case that has drawn national attention. Matthew Reeves, the defendant's son, said in an interview with deputies after the Jan. 13 shooting that he was running late to meet his parents for a 1:20 p.m. show of Lone Survivor. He texted his father that he was on the way. 
 
 His father wrote back that he and his wife, Vivian, were in their seats. 
 
 About 15 minutes later, Matthew Reeves walked into the theater as a single shot rang out. Matthew Reeves, a Tampa police officer, told investigators he caught Chad Oulson, who was struck in the chest, as he collapsed in the aisle. 
 
 Authorities say Curtis Reeves, 71, who also made his career as a Tampa officer, shot Oulson, 43, during a confrontation over Oulson texting his daughter's babysitter during the previews. 
 
 Matthew Reeves told Pasco sheriff's deputies that he didn't see the argument or the shot but that "noise and light" was coming from the top row as he walked into the darkness of auditorium 10. 
 
 According to court documents, Matthew Reeves told investigators he immediately went upstairs toward the commotion. He didn't know where his parents were sitting. He could see one person stand, then take a few steps back and then a few steps forward to the end of the row. As the stranger collapsed, Matthew Reeves caught him and helped him to the ground. 
 
 He noticed the man was bleeding from what appeared to be a gunshot wound to the chest. Someone handed Matthew Reeves a T-shirt, and he pressed it against the wound to stanch the blood. 
 
 It was then, as he treated Chad Oulson on the floor of the theater, that Matthew Reeves looked toward the back row and saw his parents. 
 
 "He said his father appeared to have a shocked look on his face," according to the court records. 
 
 As stunned moviegoers fled, and Chad Oulson's wife, Nicole, screamed to witnesses that Reeves shot her in the finger, Matthew Reeves then got another bystander to take over tending to Oulson. He said he went to the lobby and told staff what happened and asked someone to call 911, then went to the kitchen and washed his hands. A theater employee said he gave Matthew Reeves some bleach to clean the blood. 
 
 Another sheriff's deputy said as she wrapped the seats with crime scene tape, Matthew Reeves re-entered the theater and told her he was a Tampa police officer and the suspect's son. He asked if his father had been arrested. 
 
 "He was obviously upset, so I sent him out into the hallway and advised detectives about him," wrote Deputy Christina Demas. 
 
 One witness reported hearing one of the men — the witness didn't know which — say "Touch me again and I'll kill you," before the shot was fired. Others heard one say something that sounded like "get out of my face." 
 
 Some left the theater immediately. One man said he crawled up the steps. A few others, including two nurses, stayed and aided Chad and Nicole Oulson. Off-duty Sumter sheriff's Deputy Alan Hamilton took Curtis Reeves' gun and made him stay seated until deputies arrived. 
 
 Pasco investigator Steven Greiner wrote in a statement that Curtis Reeves was seated and appeared calm when he came to arrest him inside the theater. 
 
 "I told the suspect to get up and put his hands behind his back," Greiner wrote. "He did not comply. I slung my AR-15 and grabbed his right arm. He got up from his seat but he still did not comply. . . . I moved him forward and bent his upper body over the chair in front of him. I then held his wrists behind him while (another deputy) applied handcuffs to his wrists." 
 
 Reeves, who is charged with second-degree murder and aggravated battery with a firearm, is being held without bail at the Pasco County jail until his trial, which is tentatively set for this fall. If convicted, he could face life in prison. At a pretrial hearing on Wednesday, his attorneys waived his right to speedy trial, saying they want to hire experts and do their own investigation. 
 
 The next pretrial hearing is set for July 9. 
 
 In an interview with a Pasco sheriff's detective after the shooting, Reeves said he was scared for his life after Oulson came over the seat and punched him in the face, setting up a possible self-defense claim. 
 
 Reeves' attorney Dino Michaels told reporters after the hearing that Reeves is holding up "the best he can" in jail. 
 
 "For a 71-year-old guy who's never been in trouble before, (and has) always been a pillar of his community, he's not in the best of health," Michaels said. "He has strong faith."
– The 71-year-old Florida man who fatally shot a fellow moviegoer who was texting during previews had sent a text of his own about 15 minutes earlier, reports the Tampa Bay Times. Curtis Reeves responded to a text from his son, who was supposed to meet his parents in the theater but was running late, with a text saying that he and his wife were already in their seats, according to newly released court documents. It's unclear whether any previews were playing at the time, but they definitely were 15 minutes later when Reeves got into an altercation with Chad Oulson, who was texting his daughter's babysitter. Reeves claims self-defense, saying the 43-year-old Oulson confronted him when Reeves told him to stop texting. He is charged with second-degree murder and aggravated battery, the latter because the bullet that killed Oulson also struck Oulson's wife in the finger. The AP notes two other tidbits from the new documents: Reeves, a retired Tampa cop, had received letters of commendation during his career for leading training seminars on, among other things, gun safety. A 35-year-old woman told investigators that Reeves got upset with her in December—a month before the fatal shooting—because she was texting in the same theater. She said he stared at her throughout the movie.