What to Know About the Fatal Shooting of Airman Roger Fortson by a Florida Sheriff's Deputy

The fatal shooting of Roger Fortson by a Florida sheriff's deputy when the senior Air Force airman opened his door armed with a downward-pointing handgun occurred nearly a month ago , but the information released so far has not clarified why the officer was directed to his apartment. .

The Okaloosa County Sheriff's Office released the deputy's body camera video of the May 3 shooting and redacted the 911 calls and reports, but not the deputy's name. The agency also did not say whether the deputy made a statement to investigators. The Florida Department of Law Enforcement is investigating, but as its investigation is ongoing, it will not comment. Fortson was black. The congressman's race has not been disclosed.

Fortson, 23, had no criminal record and there was no evidence he was involved in the disturbance that led to the deputy's call to the apartment complex. Fortson was alone in his apartment and his girlfriend said she and Fortson were having a normal video chat when the deputy began knocking on the door.

Ben Crump, the family's attorney, called the shooting an “unjustifiable murder,” and Matt Gaetz, the area's staunch Republican lawmaker, said Fortson did nothing wrong.

Here are some of the main issues surrounding the case:

Why was the deputy at Fortson's apartment? Shortly before 4:25 p.m. on May 3, an employee at Elan Apartments in the Florida Panhandle community of Fort Walton Beach called the sheriff's office, saying a resident had reported a loud argument that had been going on for 20 minutes. It was said that “it gets physical” and that “it happens a lot.”

She said Fortson's fourth-floor apartment was the location of the disturbance, but he was home alone. At the operator's suggestion, the employee approached Fortson's unit and reported that she heard nothing.

The deputy arrived about three minutes later, according to body camera video. He entered the office, where a man directed him to the parking lot. A woman met him there. In the video, she looks like the employee who told the operator she would meet with the deputy. His face is blurred in the video.

“Are they fighting or something?” » asked the MP.

She responded that there had been an apparent argument in one of the apartments and it was “getting out of hand.”

He asked which apartment.

“I don't know. So I'm not sure,” she replied. She then told the deputy that two weeks earlier she had heard someone yelling and cursing in the apartment, followed by with a sound that sounded like a slap, but she hadn't reported it.

The deputy again asked which apartment, and this time the woman gave Fortson's apartment number. The deputy repeated the number. She confirmed the apartment was on the fourth floor and gave the deputy instructions.

Fortson lived alone and had no visitors at the time of the shooting. That raised questions about whether the deputy had been directed to the wrong apartment. County 911 dispatch records show deputies had never been called to his apartment before. However, deputies had been called to another fourth-floor apartment ten times in the previous eight months, including once for a domestic disturbance.

A 911 call made by a resident, apparently just after the fatal shooting, referred to an argument between a man and a woman in an apartment where a child lives.

Crump said he believed police were sent to the wrong apartment. It is unclear whether he is referring to the apartment where police had previously been called.

WHAT HAPPENED WHEN THE MP ARRIVED AT THE FORTSON DOOR?The deputy arrived at Fortson's door less than three minutes after arriving at the complex. He listened silently for 20 seconds outside, but no voices inside are heard on his body camera.

He then knocked on the door, but without identifying himself. He then moved to the side of the door, about 1.5 meters away. He waited 15 seconds before knocking on the door again. This time he shouted, “Sheriff’s Office, open the door!” He moved to the side again.

Less than 10 seconds later, he came back to the door and knocked again, announcing himself once more.

Fortson opened the door, his legally purchased gun in his right hand. She was at his side, pointing towards the ground. The deputy said “Stand back” and then immediately began shooting. Fortson fell backwards to the ground.

Only then did the deputy shout, “Drop the gun!”

Fortson replied, “It’s over there.” »

The deputy called paramedics, but Fortson died a short time later at the hospital.

WHAT HAPPENED AFTER THE SHOT?In the hours after the shooting, the sheriff's office issued a brief news release offering few details. He said the deputy responded to a call about a disturbance and heard it himself, which is not corroborated by body camera audio.

“He reacted in self-defense after encountering a 23-year-old man armed with a firearm and after the deputy identified himself as law enforcement,” the statement said.

It took several days before the shooting began to attract attention. Fortson's family wondered how an airman with no record could be shot by a deputy at his door and hired Crump.

“One thing is clear from the bodycam and must be stated unequivocally: Roger did not deserve to die. He did nothing wrong,” Rep. Gaetz said in a statement.

Hundreds of people attended Fortson's funeral near his family's home in suburban Atlanta, while other airmen filed past his flag-draped casket to pay their respects.

The apartment where Fortson lived is about eight miles from Hurlburt Field, where Fortson was assigned to the 4th Special Operations Squadron as a special missions Airman serving on an AC-130J Ghostrider gunship. One of his roles was to load the aircraft's 30mm and 105mm guns during combat.