Grove 16 at Wesley Chapel

Photos of Cobb’s CinéBistro Grove can be seen on this page of the web site of CTSM Architects.

Edited from my February 15, 2022 (8:03 AM) comment:

Exactly more than five years after the Grove 16’s opening, the Grove 16 went into a serious dark path. The Grove 16 became national headlines following the self-defense shooting death of Chad Oulson, a retired American Gulf War veteran, by former Tampa Police Captain Curtain Reeves on January 13, 2014.

That day, Oulson and his wife Nicole were preparing to watch “Lone Survivor” in one of the auditoriums, while Curtis Reeves and his wife were watching from the row behind the Oulsons. It happened during the final set of intermission, as trailers were rolling on the screen. During one trailer, Reeves became so distracted after Oulson was using his phone during the trailers, texting to his son. Reeves then exited the theater to complain to theater personnel, then returned to his seat. Oulson threw the popcorn bucket at Reeves, who then drew a .380 caliber handgun and fired, shooting Nicole in the finger and fatally wounding Chad. He was taken to a nearby hospital by Tampa Fire Rescue where he was pronounced dead.

According to witness Alan Hamilton, an off-duty Tampa police officer, Reeves’s wife said, “that was no cause to shoot anyone”, to which Reeves scolded her with his finger and said, “you shut your f***ing mouth and don’t say another word”. Reeves insisted that he killed Oulson because he felt threatened by the younger, more physically fit individual. In 2017, a judge ruled that Reeves could not take shelter under the Florida’s Stand Your Ground law, a decision that would later be overturned on appeal, leaving the determination of self-defense to the jury. Tampa defense attorney Richard Escobar referred to the case as “the largest self-defense case ever in Florida”.

During the trial, Reeves stated that the confrontation made him more afraid than anything else in his life, including his SWAT experience, and entire law enforcement career, but prosecutors disputed that statement. Eight years after the murder in February 2022, Reeves was acquitted of second-degree murder and aggravated battery, and freed, ruling the incident as self-defense.