Atlanta airman killed by Florida lawmaker, but lawyer says they went to wrong apartment – WSB-TV Channel 2

FORT WALTON BEACH, Fla. – An active-duty airman from Atlanta who was stationed in Florida died last week after he was shot by a sheriff’s deputy who entered his home.

According to the family’s attorney, U.S. Air Force Senior Airman Roger Fortson, 23, died May 3 after being shot in his home by an Okaloosa County Sheriff’s Office officer.

National civil rights attorney Ben Crump and Fortson’s family held a news conference Thursday morning in Fort Walton Beach, Florida.

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A woman who was on FaceTime with Fortson at the time of the shooting said he was alone and there was no disturbance, which is what law enforcement said was the reason for the response at the apartment, according to Crump’s attorney.

She said Fortson heard a knock on the door and called to see who it was but received no answer. She said there was then a loud and “very aggressive” knock on the door. Fortson looked through the peephole but saw no one.

He then picked up his gun, which he owned legally. As he walked back into the living room, officers came through the door, saw the gun and shot him six times, Crump said in a news release.

Fortson was taken to the hospital and later died.

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Okaloosa County Sheriff Eric Aden also held a news conference Thursday afternoon. He said claims that the officers burst through the door or were in the wrong apartment were false.

During the press conference, Aden showed body camera video from the deputy involved in the incident.

It shows him knocking on Fortson’s door several times and announcing that he was at the sheriff’s office. Shortly after Fortson opened the door, the deputy fired several shots and Fortson fell back.

“All of us at the Okaloosa County Sheriff’s Office are saddened by the fatal officer-involved shooting over the weekend,” Sheriff Aden said in a statement.

Fortson was assigned to the 4th Special Operations Squadron. He had been on active duty since November 2019.

A spokesman for Crump’s law firm confirmed that Fortson and his family are from Atlanta. He graduated from McNair High School in DeKalb County.

Sheriff Aden says the Florida Department of Law Enforcement is investigating the officer-involved shooting and that the district attorney’s office will also review the case.

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