Florida deputy who killed US airman fired after sheriff's investigation

The Florida sheriff's deputy who fatally shot a U.S. Air Force airman while responding to a report of a disturbance has been fired, the Okaloosa County Sheriff's Office announced Friday.

An internal investigation into the May 3 shooting found that Deputy Eddie Duran's use of deadly force, which resulted in the death of Senior Airman Roger Fortson, was not reasonable, according to a statement from the Office of the sheriff.

“The objective facts do not support the use of deadly force as an appropriate response to Mr. Fortson’s actions,” Okaloosa County Sheriff Eric Aden said in the office’s statement.

Duran could not be reached for comment Friday.

A. Keith Dean, executive director of the Florida Deputy Sheriffs' Association, said via email that the organization represents Duran. The organization had no immediate comment.

Fortson, 23, was fatally shot as he opened the door to his apartment in Fort Walton Beach, about 40 miles east of Pensacola, after Duran knocked and announced the presence of law enforcement , the sheriff’s office said.

Duran was responding to a report of a disturbance in progress, and a complex employee directed him to the unit where Fortson lived, the office said.

A person described as a neighbor told a sheriff's dispatcher at the time that they could hear what they believed to be an argument between a man and a woman in the unit that appeared to become physical and that it was not not the first time noisy. arguing could be heard in the area around the apartment, according to the investigation report.

After knocking without announcing who he was, Duran knocked two more times, each time announcing “the sheriff's office,” the office said.

Fortson opened the front door and the two faced each other, the office said. The airman had a gun at his side, pointed downward, and did not aim it or resist the deputy before Duran opened fire, he added.

“Mr. Fortson did not commit any crime,” Aden said. “Obviously he was an exceptional aviator and individual.”

Fortson died in hospital.

At a May 9 news conference, Fortson's family and his attorneys said he was home alone and on a video call with his girlfriend before the shooting. They said he thought someone was trying to break in and the officer had the wrong apartment.

Earlier this month, the sheriff's office released body camera footage of the incident. It shows Fortson answering the door to his off-base apartment and immediately being shot multiple times.

The sheriff's office initially said in a statement after the shooting that Duran “reacted in self-defense.”

But the internal investigation made clear that the bureau believed Duran had violated agency policy.

He concluded that “Mr. Fortson made no hostile attack movement and, therefore, the former deputy's use of deadly force was not objectively reasonable under OSCO policy.” , the office said Friday.

Fortson was based at Hurlburt Field Air Force Base in Okaloosa County. His family has retained a civil rights attorney, Benjamin Crump, who did not immediately respond to a request for comment.

The Florida Department of Law Enforcement continues to investigate the shooting.