Police Kill Black US Airman In His Apartment

(NewsWorthy.news) – A young airman was shot and killed last week when local law enforcement responding to a 911 call burst into the wrong apartment.

23-year-old Roger Fortson, a senior airman based at Florida’s Hurlburt Field Special Operations Wing, was the victim of a suspected tragic mistake on Friday May 3. He was in his Fort Walton Beach apartment at the time of his death, the circumstances of which were an officer involved shooting.

The news was announced by the attorney representing Fortson’s family on Wednesday May 8. Ben Crump, a civil rights lawyer, explained in a statement evidence revealed by a woman who had been talking to the victim via Facetime at the time of the incident.

According to her testimony—revealed to the public by Crump, who did not identify the woman—Fortson was the only one at his apartment when police arrived at the complex to respond to a call. Upon hearing a knock at his door, he asked who it was but did not hear an answer.

A louder knock was heard a few minutes after that, but the young airman reportedly did not see anyone outside his door when looking through the peephole. Fortson then got his gun—legally owned by the Air Force member, according to the attorney—out of precaution for whatever might be happening outside his door.

However, as he was coming back through the living room, police deputies broke through the door and shot him six times, after seeing that the man had a gun. According to the woman, Fortson said “I can’t breathe” while lying on the floor. He later died in the hospital. The deputy who shot him has since been put on leave, pending the results of an investigation into the tragedy.

Crump has called on police to give “transparency” and “immediate answers” to understand precisely what led to the young man’s death. Specifically, he demanded that officer body cam footage be released right away.

Local law enforcement issued a statement expressing condolences for the airman’s death and requesting patience while the investigation unfolds. The Florida Department of Law Enforcement is also looking into the matter but has not shared any additional details.