Deputies came rushing to respond to a disturbance call at a Florida apartment complex. They burst into the wrong unit and fatally shot a Black U.S. Airman who was home alone when they saw he was armed with a gun, an attorney for the man’s family stated.
Senior Airman Roger Fortson, 23, was killed at his home at Chez Elan Apartments, around five miles from the air base, when he was killed. According to civil rights attorney Ben Crump, Fortson was on a call with a female friend when the event took place.
Crump stated that, the unidentified woman said Fortson was alone in his apartment when he heard a knock at the door. He asked who was there but didn’t get a response. A few minutes later, there was a very aggressive knock on the door, Crump said in a statement, but Fortson didn’t see anyone when he looked out the peephole.
The woman said Fortson was concerned and went to retrieve his gun, which Crump said was legally owned.
As Fortson walked back through his living room, deputies burst through the door, saw that Fortson was armed and shot him six times, according to Crump’s statement. Fortson was on the ground, saying, “I can’t breathe,” after he was shot, Crump said.
Fortson succumbed to his injuries at a hospital, officials said. The deputy involved in the shooting was placed on administrative leave pending an investigation.
“The circumstances surrounding Roger’s death raise serious questions that demand immediate answers from authorities, especially considering the alarming witness statement that the police entered the wrong apartment,” Crump said in the statement.
“We are calling for transparency in the investigation into Roger’s death and the immediate release of body cam video to the family,” Crump said. “His family and the public deserve to know what occurred in the moments leading up to this tragedy.”
The Okaloosa County Sheriff’s Office said in a statement last week that a deputy responding to a call of a disturbance in progress at the apartment complex reacted in self-defense after encountering an armed man. The office did not offer details on what kind of disturbance deputies were responding to or who called them.
Officials said earlier this week that the Florida Department of Law Enforcement and the local State Attorney’s Office will investigate the shooting.
