On May 3, the Okaloosa County Sheriff’s Office responded to a report of a domestic disturbance in an apartment building, and deputies shot Senior Airman Roger Fortson multiple times in the chest, according to police radio communications.
The OCSO released body camera footage of the shooting:
Ben Crump, an attorney representing Fortson’s family, told the media that Senior Airman Fortson was alone in his apartment when deputies fatally shot him six times.
Levin Papantonio Rafferty attorney Brian Barr is working with Crump. He appeared on “Real News with Rick Outzen” this morning.
“We’re still learning a lot about how it unfolded, but what we know is there was a 911 call that was relayed to what they called a fourth party. Somebody went to the leasing office and complained about something and a 911 call went that there was a statement of a domestic dispute.
The deputy showed up on the scene and then four and a half minutes later shot Roger. It sounds like he was what was relayed to him was an ongoing domestic violence situation. We don’t know why. The person that gave him Unit 1401 gave him that number.
Roger lived in that apartment by himself with his dog. He had been on FaceTiming with his girlfriend for over an hour. There was no fight, no argument. We have no idea why he knocked on that door, but he did. He knocked on that door, and the second and third time he did announce that he was with the sheriff’s office.
But if you’re following the story, as seen on the body cam video, within a second or two of Roger opening the door, he’d been shot six times, and all Roger was doing was exercising his Second Amendment rights.
I mean, we embrace guns here in the state of Florida, and he was holding one, but he was never aggressive with it. Never showed any aggression. Just opened the door. The officer told him to step back. He did exactly what he was told to do, started to step back, and then he was shot. It happened so quickly. It makes you think that the officer was already had his hand on his gun or something, and I have no idea why that would’ve been going on.
And at the end of the day, Roger never committed a crime, never did anything aggressive, did everything he was told to do. All he did was open the door to a sheriff’s officer and he lost his life because of it.”
Official Statement from Hurlburt Field
U.S. Air Force Senior Airman Roger Fortson, 23, died Friday, May 3, following an incident at his off-base residence.
Fortson, from Atlanta, Georgia, entered active duty on Nov. 19, 2019. He arrived at Hurlburt Field in March of 2020. During that time, he was assigned to the 73rd Special Operations Squadron and 4th SOS as a special missions aviator. His decorations include an Air Force Achievement Medal and Air Medal with a ‘C’ Device. The ‘C’ Device indicates service or achievement performed under combat conditions. He was deployed to Southwest Asia in mid-2023 for which he earned the Air Medal.
The Florida Department of Law Enforcement is the lead investigation agency in this incident. Questions relating to the investigation should be directed to the Florida Department of Law Enforcement.
The 1st Special Operations Wing’s focus remains on supporting Senior Airman Fortson’s family, providing necessary resources to the squadron and those impacted by this incident, and maintaining professionalism and respect at Hurlburt Field.
For those impacted by this incident and in need of support, please reach out to your nearest available helping agency.
