By DAVID FISCHER (Associated Press)
MIAMI (AP) — Deputies went into the incorrect unit at a Florida apartment complex in response to a disturbance call and fatally shot a Black U.S. Air Force airman who was at home and armed. The attorney for the man’s family said this on Wednesday.
Senior Airman Roger Fortson, 23, who was based at the Special Operations Wing at Hurlburt Field, was in his off-base apartment in Fort Walton Beach when the shooting happened on May 3.
Civil rights attorney Ben Crump mentioned in a statement that Fortson was on a Facetime call with a woman at the time of the encounter.
According to Crump, the woman, whom Crump didn’t identify, 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, Fortson heard a louder knock but didn’t see anyone when he looked through the peephole, Crump said, citing the woman’s account.
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. The woman said Fortson was on the ground, saying, “I can’t breathe,” after he was shot, Crump said.
Fortson died at a hospital, officials said. The deputy involved in the shooting was placed on administrative leave pending an investigation.
The woman said Fortson wasn’t causing a disturbance during their Facetime call and believes that the deputies must have had the wrong apartment, Crump’s statement said.
“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 explained.
“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.”
Crump is a nationally known attorney based in Tallahassee, Florida. He has been involved in multiple high-profile law enforcement shooting cases involving Black people, including those of Ahmaud Arbery, Trayvon Martin, Breonna Taylor, Tyre Nichols and George Floyd.
Crump and Fortson’s family plan to speak at a news conference in Fort Walton Beach on Thursday morning.
The Okaloosa County Sheriff’s Office didn’t immediately respond to an email or voicemail from The Associated Press seeking comment about Crump’s claims. But Sheriff Eric Aden posted a statement on Facebook Wednesday afternoon expressing sadness about the shooting.
“At this time, we humbly ask for our community’s patience as we work to understand the facts that resulted in this tragic event,” Aden said.
The 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.
The sheriff’s office chose not to immediately reveal the names or racial backgrounds of the deputies who responded. Earlier this week, officials announced that the Florida Department of Law Enforcement and the local State Attorney’s Office would investigate the shooting.
FDLE spokeswoman Gretl Plessinger told The Associated Press on Wednesday that it is very unlikely the agency will make any more comments until the investigation is finished.
Fortson worked in the 4th Special Operations Squadron as a special missions aviator, where part of his job as a member of the squadron’s AC-130J Ghostrider aircrew was to load the gunship’s 30mm and 105mm cannons during missions.
Fortson’s death is similar to other Black individuals killed in recent years by police in their homes, in situations involving officers arriving at the wrong address or responding to service calls with unnecessary deadly force.
In 2018, a white former Dallas police officer fatally shot Botham Jean, an unarmed Black man, after mistakenly entering his apartment. Amber Guyger, the former officer, was convicted of murder the following year and received a 10-year prison sentence.
In 2019, a white former Fort Worth, Texas, officer fatally shot Atatiana Jefferson through a rear window of her home after responding to a nonemergency call reporting that Jefferson’s front door was open. Aaron Dean, the former officer, was convicted of manslaughter in 2022 and received nearly 12 years in prison.
Crump has represented families in both cases as part of his ongoing effort to hold police accountable for the killings of Black individuals.
“What I’m trying to do, as much as I can, even sometimes singlehandedly, is increase the value of Black life,” Crump told The Associated Press in 2021 following the conviction of a former Minneapolis officer in the murder of George Floyd.
Fort Walton Beach is located between Panama City Beach and Pensacola in the Florida Panhandle.
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Associated Press reporters Curt Anderson in St. Petersburg, Florida, and Aaron Morrison in New York contributed to this story.
