Update: A special operations airman was fatally shot by a deputy near an Air Force base in Florida on Friday.
Senior Airman Roger Fortson, 23, was killed during “an incident at his off-base residence” around 4:30 p.m. local time.
Police bodycam video that disputes civil rights attorney Ben Crump’s claim that the deputy went to the wrong apartment.
The bodycam video shows the unnamed deputy arrive at the apartment complex. A resident told him she heard a woman being assaulted inside apartment 1401 on the fourth floor.
The deputy went to the correct apartment and knocked on the door. He announced himself twice and yelled “open the door!” Fortson opened the door with a gun in his hand.
“Step back,” the deputy said before opening fire, striking Fortson multiple times. He then told Fortson to “Drop the gun!”
The deputy radioed the dispatcher, “312. Shots fired. Suspect down.”
“Hearing sounds of a disturbance, [the deputy] reacted in self-defense,” the sheriff’s office said in a statement.
Civil rights attorney Ben Crump claims the deputy went to the wrong apartment.
Crump said Fortson’s girlfriend was on a FaceTime call with Fortson when they heard a knock at the door.
She said Fortson asked, “Who is it?” and didn’t get a response, Crump said in a news release Wednesday.
Moments later, Fortson heard an “aggressive” knock, but didn’t see anyone when he looked out his peephole.
Crump claims Fortson retrieved his legally owned gun because he feared for his safety. As Fortson returned to the living room, the witness said, deputies “burst through his door.”
Crump said in a statement, “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.”
“We are calling for transparency in the investigation into Roger’s death and the immediate release of body cam video to the family. His family and the public deserve to know what occurred in the moments leading up to this tragedy,” Crump said.
