DADE CITY, Fla. — By the end of Wednesday, we learned more about the initial investigation after the shooting, as well as Curtis Reeves’ version of events that he told detectives.
“If I had to do it over again, it would have never happened,” Reeves told detectives.
District 6 Medical Examiner Dr. Jon Thogmartin, who performed the autopsy on Chad Oulson, also testified to his findings. He determined Oulson died from a gunshot wound. The manner of death was homicide.
Thogmartin also analyzed photos taken of Reeves a couple of hours after the shooting. He determined that he could not see any injuries, except for slight redness around his left eye. Detectives say they noticed Reeves rubbed his eye several times, adding that could have caused the redness.
Below, you’ll find more detailed information about Wednesday’s testimonies, including what Reeves had to say.
4 p.m. update:
After a lunch recess, we heard from Allen Proctor who was a homicide detective in the major crimes unit with the Pasco County Sheriff’s Office during the time of the shooting.
He identified a piece of evidence, a CD, that contained the original audio interview he did with Curtis Reeves after the shooting.
During the interview, we learned Reeves’ interpretation of events. He says Chad Oulson was yelling, swearing, and acting threateningly. Once Oulson stood up, Reeves says he climbed over the chair and was “virtually on top” of him. That’s when Reeves says Oulson hit him.
In the interview, he tells detectives, “If I had to do it over again, it would have never happened.”
When asked by detectives if it was worth taking Chad’s life, Reeves’ responded, “I would like to say no, I would hope the answer to that question would be no, but unfortunately it’s a yes.”
Throughout the interview, Reeves repeatedly says he felt scared or threatened.
“If I wasn’t afraid of getting hurt or beaten up, I would have never pulled the pistol.”
Reeves called the event “life-changing” and says in the interview he would have “avoided it at all costs.”
In the recording, detectives say they have interviewed multiple witnesses, including Reeves’ wife, Vivian. According to detectives, Vivian said she never saw a punch thrown, and Reeves’ glasses were not knocked off his face.
As a result, detectives decided to arrest Reeves.
1 p.m. update:
Susan Miller, forensics supervisor with the Pasco County Sheriff’s Office, and Dr. Jon R. Thogmartin, medical examiner for District 6, have both been called as witnesses.
Miller was responsible for photographing Reeves shortly after the deadly altercation, as well as performing swabs, fingernail scraping, and cutting. This took place in theater 11, the theater next to theater 10 where the shooting happened.
After Chad Oulson’s death, Thogmartin performed the autopsy. He says he has performed thousands of autopsies and estimates around 5,000.
“It’s kind of obvious was caused his death,” Thogmartin said while discussing the gunshot wounds on Oulson’s body.
He says the bullet traveled through Chad’s skin, under his fourth rib, knicked the rib and went through his heart. The bullet had a lead core with a copper jacket. Thogmartin says the jacket is released once the bullet hits tissue. The copper jacket had been found in Oulson’s heart. The bullet did not exit his body.
Thogmartin confirms the same shot is responsible for Nicole’s injury to her hand. He says the bullet went right through her left ring finger and grazed her pinky finger.
Thogmartin adds there was a gunshot graze wound to Oulson’s right wrist.
In analyzing photos of Reeves’ face taken a couple of hours after the shooting, he says he doesn’t see any injuries. Reeves had said he felt he had something in his left eye, causing him to rub it several times.
“This, I don’t even know if I’d appreciate it as an injury…It’s a little ‘redder’ maybe, but I’m not going to say it’s an injury," Thogmartin explained.
Thogmartin says Chad Oulson’s cause of death is a gunshot wound to the chest. The manner of death is homicide.
10 a.m. update:
The first two witnesses called to the stand were Craig Dejonge with Pasco County Fire Rescue and Todd Koenig, a detective with the Pasco County Sheriff's Office.
During questioning, Dejonge explains when he arrived at the scene, he was tasked with taking care of Curtis Reeves, who was sitting handcuffed in a patrol car.
Dejonge says that Reeves said he felt he had something in his left eye. During a visual observation, Dejonge says he did not see any redness, foreign objects, or lacerations. The white part of Reeves' eye was white.
To treat Reeves' discomfort, Dejonge says he used sterile water to flush his eye two or three times. However, Dejonge adds Reeves still expressed he felt he had something in his eye. He was placed back in the patrol car.
During questioning toward Koenig, he says he saw Reeves rub his eye and the corner of his eye several times during an interview between the two. Koenig says he did not notice any redness, but by the end of the interview, redness had developed in the spot Reeves had been rubbing.
Koenig says he did not notice any other injuries to Reeves, but he adds Reeves expressed his shoulder hurt from sitting in the patrol car.
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The Curtis Reeves trial is continuing Wednesday with expectations of more witness testimony — and possibly expert testimony.
On Tuesday, four witnesses who sat in close vicinity to Curtis Reeves testified to what happened in that Wesley Chapel movie theater in 2014. Despite several discrepancies, all four witnesses told almost the exact same story about the altercation between Reeves and Chad Oulson.
Jane Roy, who sat one seat over from Reeves, describes the event as petrifying. She said she had never seen a person shot before and was scared.
Reeves faces charges of second-degree murder for killing Oulson, and aggravated battery for injuring Nicole Oulson, Chad's wife. If convicted, he will face a minimum of 25 years for second-degree murder with a firearm.