US Black airman fatally shot by security officer in wrong apartment

US Black airman fatally shot by security officer in wrong apartment

An attorney for the family of a Black airman fatally shot by a Florida deputy in his home last week is calling for the release of law enforcement bodycam footage, saying a witness believes the deputy was at the wrong apartment.

The 23-year-old victim has been identified by his family as Roger Fortson – an ​active-duty senior airman in United States, according to family attorney Ben Crump.

“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, citing the account of an unidentified person who was on FaceTime with Fortson at the time of the shooting.

Okaloosa County Sheriff Eric Aden said in a statement deputies responded last Friday to an apartment after receiving a call for “a disturbance in progress.”

“Hearing sounds of a disturbance, (a deputy) reacted in self-defense after he encountered a 23-year-old man armed with a gun and after the deputy had identified himself as law enforcement,” the sheriff said.

“The deputy shot the man, who later succumbed to his injuries,” said the sheriff.

“I immediately placed the deputy on administrative leave and have asked the Florida Department of Law Enforcement to conduct the investigation that is required in such incidents,” the sheriff’s statement said.

The deputy involved in the shooting has not been identified by officials.

Crump – who’s expected to hold a news conference in Fort Walton Beach, Florida, on Thursday – called Fortson “a stellar member of the Air Force and loved by his community.”

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“We are calling for transparency in the investigation into Roger’s death and the IMMEDIATE release of bodycam video to the family,” Crump said Wednesday in a post on X.

Fortson heard two separate knocks at the door and – the witness said – when no one could be seen through the peephole, Fortson retrieved his gun, which was legally owned, according to Crump.

The deputy then allegedly burst into the apartment and shot Fortson.

The witness said law enforcement responded to the wrong apartment, and there was no disturbance there at the time, Crump said in a news release. According to Crump, the witness said Fortson was alone at the time.

Her relationship to Fortson was not disclosed.

Deputies communicated with dispatch that Fortson had been shot six times with multiple gunshot wounds to the chest with one exit wound, according to police dispatch calls, obtained by CNN affiliate WEAR.

Officers can be heard saying that there was a “disturbance … physical in progress,” in the dispatch calls, WEAR reported.

“Fortson was assigned to the 4th Special Operations Squadron. He entered active duty on Nov. 19, 2019,” said a statement from the Air Force, which noted the shooting occurred at Fortson’s off-base residence.

“The 1st Special Operations Wing’s priorities are providing casualty affairs service to the family, supporting the squadron during this tragic time, and ensuring resources are available for all who are impacted,” said the Hurlburt Field statement.

While details about the shooting remain murky, the allegation the Okaloosa deputy responded to the wrong apartment echoes other shootings in recent years, in which a Black man or woman was killed by law enforcement in their home.

In 2019, a former Dallas police officer was sentenced to 10 years in prison after fatally shooting Botham Jean in his apartment the year prior. The officer – off duty but still in uniform – lived on the floor below Jean’s and said she approached what she believed to be her own apartment when she saw Jean inside.

Atatiana Jefferson was killed that same year when a Fort Worth officer, responding to what police believed to be a burglary, shot her through her bedroom window.

The officer testified at trial that Jefferson pointed a gun at him, but prosecutors argued there was no evidence he saw the gun before opening fire. The former Fort Worth officer was sentenced to nearly 12 years in prison in 2022.

US Black airman fatally shot by security officer in wrong apartment

(CNN)