The Okaloosa County Sheriff's Office on Thursday released police body camera footage showing one of its officers fatally shooting an Air Force officer in an off-base apartment last week.
Senior Airman Roger Fortson, 23, was shot and killed late Friday afternoon by a deputy responding to a report of a disturbance in progress, according to the Okaloosa County Sheriff's Office.
The four-minute-plus video begins with a deputy arriving at Fortson's apartment complex and ends with Fortson being shot and the deputy calling for medical assistance.
Earlier Thursday, an attorney for Fortson's family called on law enforcement officials to “correct the narrative” surrounding Fortson's death, saying he had done nothing wrong before he was shot. Ta.
Fortson's mother and attorney said at a news conference that his girlfriend, who was on a FaceTime call with Fortson throughout the encounter, said the deputy entered the wrong unit and saw Fortson holding a gun. He said he shot and killed him. His girlfriend, who did not attend the press conference, was reportedly distraught.
Body camera video shows a deputy knocking and twice identifying himself as a member of the sheriff's office before Fortson opened the door.
When the deputy arrived outside the complex, he was met by a woman whose face was blurred and directed to Apartment 1401.
The deputy knocked on the door, stood to the side, and said: “Sheriff's Office.” He opens the door. ” When he knocked again, he also said, “This is the Sheriff's Office.'' Open the door.'' When Fortson opens the door, he appears to have a gun pointed downwards. The deputy said, “Stand back,” and fired his gun multiple times. Fortson falls to the floor. The deputy twice yelled, “Put the gun down,” to which Fortson responded, “Over there.”
The deputy then calls for medical assistance.
“He lost his life because they knocked on the wrong door. Mistakes happen. We know that,” said Brian Barr, one of the family's attorneys. “Human beings are not perfect. Good people make mistakes. But good people also have their mistakes.”
He said the sheriff's office misled the public through its statements about the shooting.
“You pick it up and read it. What does it make you think? It makes you think this happened outside. This kid was in the middle of the commotion,” Barr said. said. “And he did something. He instigated this and lost his life. That's what it sounds like. It sounded justified. That's what they tried to make it sound like. is.”
“I want to know what happened,” he continued. “We want to own our mistakes. We're not going to walk away until we have that transparency.”
The sheriff's office said in a statement: “Sheriff's deputies responded to a call of a disturbance in progress, where they encountered an armed man. The deputy shot and killed the man, who later succumbed to his injuries.”
Benjamin Crump, a civil rights attorney who also represents Fortson's family, said he plans to review the body camera footage with members of the sheriff's office later Thursday and expects it to be released later. Stated.
“They took a good man. They took a patriot from us,” he said. “Then you end up spreading the word that a police officer killed a resident at this apartment complex in self-defense. You demonize his name as if he did something wrong. He published a story like this, trying to justify an unjust murder.''
“When you make a mistake, you own up to it. It's not about trying to justify killing a good person,” Crump said. “Sheriff Okaloosa needs to give him the dignity and respect he so richly deserves.”
Fortson's mother, Chantimek Fortson, held a framed photo of her son in military uniform. She said he had dreamed of joining the Air Force since he was a child, and he had fulfilled that dream. She described him as caring, intelligent, loving and respectful.
She implored the sheriff's department to release more information about the encounter, saying she had “accepted my gift.”
“I want to get his reputation right,” Chantimek Fortson said. “Tell me the truth about my son. I know my son hasn't done anything to you guys. Please smear my baby's reputation.”
The sheriff's office did not respond to a request for comment.
in statement Crump said Wednesday that the sheriff's office's account was “very disturbing” and falsely suggested Fortson posed a threat.
The sheriff's office said the deputy, whose identity has not been released, encountered Fortson, who was armed with a gun, and identified himself as a law enforcement officer, then heard “the sounds of a commotion.” “I reacted in self-defense.” However, Fortson's mother and attorneys said Fortson was on a FaceTime call with his girlfriend throughout the meeting and that he was home alone when he heard a knock on her door. Ta. He asked, “Who is that?” But he did not receive a response, Crump said in a statement and press conference Wednesday.
A few minutes later, there was a second hard knock, the girlfriend said. Crump said Thursday, citing his girlfriend, that when Fortson looked through the peephole, she couldn't see anyone and it looked like someone was covering it. Barr said Fortson believed someone was trying to break into her apartment. There he got the gun back, but his family's lawyers argued it was legally owned. As Fortson walked back through the living room, law enforcement officers burst through the door, saw Fortson was armed, and shot him six times, his girlfriend said. That's what it means. The man was taken to a hospital, where he later died, the sheriff's office said.
His girlfriend said she saw Fortson on the ground saying, “I can't breathe” after he was shot. She said she believes law enforcement may have entered the wrong department because there was no disturbance at Fortson's apartment and Fortson was home alone.
Chantimek Fortson said her son's girlfriend called her while she was still on a FaceTime call. Her grieving mother said her son was shot three times in his chest and three times in his left arm.
Fortson was assigned to the 4th Special Operations Squadron. Hurlburt Field, the Air Force base to which he was assigned, announced in a statement that he entered active duty on November 19, 2019.
Sheriff Eric Eiden said in a statement late Tuesday that he placed the deputy on administrative leave “immediately” and referred the investigation to the Florida Department of Law Enforcement as required by policy. He said the Florida Attorney's Office will also conduct an independent review.
The Florida Department of Law Enforcement confirmed it was investigating the shooting at the request of the sheriff's office and declined further comment. The Florida Attorney's Office did not respond to requests for comment.
Crump compared Fortson's killing to that of Botham Jean, an unarmed black man shot and killed in 2018 by an off-duty white Dallas police officer who mistook his apartment for his own. Amber Guyger was convicted of murder the following year and sentenced to 10 years in prison.
“You come to my apartment, shoot me dead, and then say it was self-defense?” Crump said. “What does that mean?”
Crump represented Jean's family as well as the families of Breonna Taylor and George Floyd, who were also killed by police.