Florida deputies who fatally shot US airman burst into wrong apartment, attorney says [View all]
Source: Associated Press
MIAMI (AP) Deputies responding to a disturbance call at a Florida apartment complex burst into the wrong unit and fatally shot a Black U.S. Air Force airman who was home alone when they saw he was armed with a gun, an attorney for the mans family said Wednesday.
Senior Airman Roger Fortson, 23, who was based at the Special Operations Wing at Hurlburt Field, was in his off-base apartment in Fort Walton Beach when the shooting happened on May 3.
Civil rights attorney Ben Crump said in a statement that Fortson was on a Facetime call with a woman at the time of the encounter.
According to Crump, the woman, whom Crump didnt identify, said Fortson was alone in his apartment when he heard a knock at the door. He asked who was there but didnt get a response. A few minutes later, Fortson heard a louder knock but didnt see anyone when he looked through the peephole, Crump said, citing the womans account.
Read more: https://apnews.com/article/police-shooting-airman-florida-8bcc82463ada69264389edf2a4f1a83d