Black Airman Fatally Shot by Florida Deputies; Family demands investigation

The family’s attorney, Ben Crump, said that Senior Airmen Roger Fortson said that Okaloosa County sheriff’s deputies responded to a disturbance call at the apartment complex and entered the wrong unit and fatally shot Fortson when they saw him with a gun was armed.

“For some reason they thought he was a bad guy, but he was a good guy. He was a great guy. He was an extraordinary guy,” Crump said. “They took away a patriot from us.”

Crump, a prominent civil rights attorney, called the shooting “an unjustified killing” and said the sheriff’s office must own up to it rather than create a counter-narrative that the officers acted in self-defense.

The sheriff’s office declined to name the responding officers or their origins. Officials said the Florida Department of Law Enforcement and the local prosecutor’s office were investigating the shooting.

Crump said Fortson had always wanted to join the U.S. Air Force and enlisted after graduating from high school. Fortson was stationed in the Special Operations Wing at Hurlburt Field.

“He was living his dream. “He wanted to make it easier for his mother and siblings so they could have a better chance at the American dream,” Crump said.

Fortson was home alone and having a FaceTime conversation with a friend when officers arrived, Crump said.

According to Crump, the woman, whom the attorney did not identify, said Fortson heard a knock on the door. He asked who was there but got no answer. A few minutes later, Fortson heard louder knocking but saw no one when he looked through the peephole, Crump said, citing the woman’s account.

The woman said Fortson was concerned and picked up his gun, which Crump said was legally owned.

As Fortson walked back through his living room, officers burst through the door, saw Fortson was armed and shot him six times, Crump said.

Fortson died at a hospital, officials said. The officer who shot him was placed on administrative leave pending an investigation.

Crump, based in Tallahassee, Florida, has been involved in several high-profile cases of police shootings involving Black people, including the cases of Ahmaud Arbery, Trayvon Martin, Tire Nichols, George Floyd and Breonna Taylor, also in her home was killed in a spontaneous police raid that was directed against her ex-boyfriend in 2020.

The Okaloosa County Sheriff’s Office did not respond to an email or voicemail from The Associated Press seeking comment on Crump’s statements. Sheriff Eric Aden released a statement on Facebook Wednesday afternoon expressing sadness over the shooting.

“At this time, we humbly ask our community for patience as we work to understand the facts that led to this tragic event,” Aden said.

The sheriff’s office said in a statement last week that a deputy responding to a call about a disturbance at the apartment complex responded in self-defense after encountering an armed man. The office did not say what type of disturbance officers were responding to or who called them.

FDLE spokeswoman Gretl Plessinger told the Associated Press on Wednesday that the agency was unlikely to comment further until the investigation was complete.

Fortson was assigned to the 4th Special Operations Squadron as a special operations airman, where one of his duties as a member of the squadron’s AC-130J Ghostrider crew was to load the gunship’s guns during missions.

Fortson’s death bears striking similarities to other black people killed by police in their homes in recent years, in circumstances where officers responded to the wrong address or responded to calls for service with wanton use of deadly force.

In 2018, a white former Dallas police officer fatally shot unarmed Botham Jean after mistaking his apartment for her own. Amber Guyger, the former officer, was convicted of murder and sentenced to 10 years in prison.

In 2019, a white former officer from Fort Worth, Texas, fatally shot Atatiana Jefferson through a rear window of her home after responding to a 911 call informing him that Jefferson’s front door was open. Aaron Dean, the former officer, was found guilty of manslaughter and sentenced to nearly 12 years in prison.

Crump represented families in both cases as part of his efforts to force accountability for police killings of Black people.

In November 2023, an Okaloosa County sheriff’s deputy mistook the sound of an acorn hitting his patrol car for a gunshot and shot multiple times at the SUV with a handcuffed Black man sitting in the back seat. Sheriff’s officials said the man questioned about stealing his girlfriend’s car was not injured. He was taken into custody but released without charge. The officer who initiated the shooting resigned.

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Schneider reported from Orlando, Florida.