The Okaloosa County Sheriff's Office has released body camera footage showing a deputy fatally shooting U.S. Air Force Senior Airman Roger Fortson, a Black man, within seconds of him opening his apartment door on May 3. The video, presented by Sheriff Eric Aden, contradicts assertions made by civil rights attorney Ben Crump, who is representing Fortson's family, that the deputy had gone to the wrong apartment, covered the door's peephole, and did not announce himself.
The footage shows the deputy arriving at a Fort Walton Beach apartment complex and speaking with a woman who described hearing an argument. The deputy then proceeded to the fourth floor, where he knocked on the door of unit 1401 several times, announcing himself as law enforcement. When Fortson opened the door, he appeared to be holding a firearm at his side. The deputy immediately shouted, "Step back!" and opened fire, striking Fortson multiple times.
Following the shooting, the deputy yelled for Fortson to drop the gun, to which Fortson responded, "It's over there," and "I don't have it." The deputy then called for medical assistance. The sheriff's office has not identified the deputy involved or his race, but he has been placed on administrative leave pending an investigation by the Florida Department of Law Enforcement.
Crump, who has been involved in several high-profile cases of Black people killed in encounters with law enforcement, released a statement noting that the deputy did not tell Fortson to drop his gun before shooting "multiple times within a split second of the door being opened." The family maintains that the deputy had the wrong apartment, as Fortson was on a FaceTime call with his girlfriend leading up to the shooting and was alone in the apartment.
BREAKING - POLICE EXECUTION: Bodycam footage shows the moment US Airman Roger Fortson is executed in Florida within seconds of opening his door after police barged into the wrong apartment and shot him six times without warning. He legally owned a gun but the cop did not bother… pic.twitter.com/VETFmlnhX4 — Simon Ateba (@simonateba) May 9, 2024
In a press conference earlier on Thursday, Fortson's mother, Chantemekki Fortson, and Crump sought to clear the airman's name, stating that he was not the reason deputies were called for an alleged disturbance. They described Fortson as a respected member of the Air Force who sought to provide for his family and respected authorities. Sheriff Aden met with Fortson's family before releasing the video and expressed his condolences, assuring them that the investigation was not an attempt to hide or cover anything up. The shooting is being treated as a criminal investigation, and no determination has been made yet on whether the deputy's actions were justified.
Roger Fortson's girlfriend recorded on Facetime his encounter with Okaloosa County, Florida Sheriff's Deputies. His girlfriend and her attorney have instructed us that we can release a portion of the Facetime video that was recorded at the time of this tragedy. pic.twitter.com/hvm7lStHb7 — Ben Crump (@AttorneyCrump) May 9, 2024
The video release also included footage from Fortson's FaceTime call with his girlfriend, which began after he was shot and depicted the chaos of the moment. As Fortson moaned and said he couldn't breathe, the deputy yelled at him to stop moving and informed him that EMS was on the way.
Fortson, originally from Atlanta, was a special missions aviator assigned to the 4th Special Operations Squadron at Hurlburt Field. He had received the Air Medal with a 'C' device for his service during a 2023 deployment. Col. Patrick Dierig, commander of the 1st Special Operations Wing, posted on Facebook that the Air Force is supporting Fortson's family and will honor his service at a later date.
The fatal shooting of Fortson draws striking similarities to other cases of Black people killed by police in their homes in recent years, including Botham Jean in Dallas and Atatiana Jefferson in Fort Worth, Texas. Crump, who represented the families in both of those cases, has been vocal in his criticism of the deputy's actions and the sheriff's office's initial portrayal of the incident.
