Airman shot, killed by Florida deputy sheriff; lawyer says they entered wrong apartment

An active-duty airman stationed in Florida died Friday after he was shot by a sheriff’s deputy.

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U.S. Air Force Senior Airman Roger Fortson, 23, died at a Fort Walton Beach, Florida, hospital after he was shot by an Okaloosa County Sheriff’s officer at an apartment complex, according to The Northwest Florida Daily News.

Update

12:48 p.m. May 9: A Florida deputy fatally shot Airman Roger Fortson last week after forcibly entering the wrong apartment, his family’s attorney alleged in a news release, The Washington Post reported.

According to the news release, the witness was on FaceTime with Fortson during the incident and said Fortson was alone in his apartment when the authorities entered.

According to the statement, Fortson heard a knock at the door and asked who was there, but did not receive a reply, the witness said. After another “very aggressive knock,” Fortson looked out the peephole and could not see anyone. He was concerned, the statement said and retrieved a gun, which he owned legally.

As Fortson returned to the living room with the gun, the authorities allegedly burst through the door and shot him six times. The witness recalled Fortson saying “I can’t breathe.”

Original story

Deputies were called to a disturbance around 4:30 p.m. Friday and found Fortson brandishing a gun, according to the Okaloosa County Sheriff’s Department.

A deputy responding to the call “reacted in self-defense after he encountered a 23-year-old man armed with a gun,” the Sheriff’s Office said in a news release Friday.

Fortson was assigned to the 4th Special Operations Squadron as a special missions aviator, according to The Associated Press.

Okaloosa County Sheriff Eric Aden said Tuesday that the Florida Department of Law Enforcement will investigate the incident and the State Attorney’s Office will conduct an independent review.

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