https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=O5iw1xtJx58&feature=youtube_gdata_player
Reeves clearly was ready to escalate the confrontation. Witnesses testify to that. Look at how Reeves talked to his own wife after the shooting; telling her to “shut her fu#king mouth.”, according to the sheriff deputy who confiscated his gun. Even Reeves wife didn't think that the shooting was necessary, and told him so. For anyone still supporting this Reeves clown, listen to the deputy testify in above YouTube video.
After watching the testimony of the retired Air Force officer some things are clearer but there’s other questions now.
The retired officer sat in the aisle seat. Reeves was polite when he returned from the attempt to speak with management. Reeves displayed no anger. That was brought out in the questioning. The retired officer and his wife entered while the previews were playing. Oulson was standing at that time. Reeves returned and sat down. Words were exchanged. The retired officer could not tell what Reeves said. He did hear Oulson state he had a message he wanted to take.
Oulson threw his bag of popcorn at Reeves. The gun shot came immediately afterwards. Reeves did recognize he had been hit with popcorn. Reeves was angry after getting hit by the popcorn. Which makes sense in his statement to his wife. He was not angry before the incident based on his demeanor observed by the retired officer when he returned.
The retired officer did not observe the gun in Reeve’s hand when he returned and did not see the gun until it was fired. He could not tell whether the gun was already out in Reeve’s lap or was drawn from after the popcorn.
I think the gun was drawn from the pocket as soon as the popcorn was thrown. Oulson was talking loudly enough that the retired officer could hear every word. Oulson never said anything about the gun.
So far I haven’t seen anything that has convinced me that Reeve’s training didn’t kick in with getting hit by the thrown popcorn. That reaction btw may have not been the result of conscious thought. OTOH it was probably a reflex defensive move, a habit, instilled by years of training.
Once you have a habit, it never goes away. You may learn a new habit. But the old one can resurface.