A Florida sheriff's deputy announced himself as law enforcement just before fatally shooting a U.S. Air Force airman inside his apartment in the state's Panhandle, according to body camera video released on Thursday, May 9.
Okaloosa County Sheriff Eric Aden presented the video hours after the family of Senior Airman Roger Fortson and their attorneys held a news conference in which they claimed the deputy went to the wrong apartment, covered the door's peephole and failed to announce himself, disputing the claim that Fortson was killed in self-defense.
Body Camera Footage Shows Officer Told Fortson to Drop His Gun After Shooting Him
The video shows the deputy arriving at a Fort Walton Beach apartment building on May 3 and speaking to a woman outside who described hearing an argument. The deputy then went up an elevator and walked down an outdoor hallway.
The video shows the deputy banging on the door and stepping aside, seemingly out of view of the door. Twice he shouted: "Sheriff's office! Open the door!"
Fortson opened the door and could be seen holding what appeared to be handgun pointed down toward the floor. The deputy shouted, "Step back!" and fired off shots. He then shouted, "Drop the gun! Drop the gun!"
"It's over there," Fortson said.
"Drop the gun!" the deputy yelled back.
"I don't have it," Fortson said, lying on the ground.
The deputy then called paramedics on his radio. Fortson was shot six times and succumbed to his injuries.
The following video is graphic in nature. Viewer discretion is advised.
The sheriff's office has declined to identify the responding deputy. The deputy was placed on administrative leave pending an investigation.
Fortson's Attorney Says Deputy Shot Within a Split Second of Opening the Door
Civil rights attorney Ben Crump, who is representing Fortson's family, released a statement later noting that the officer did not tell Roger to drop his gun before shooting "multiple times within a split second of the door being opened."
"We remain adamant that the police had the wrong apartment as Roger was on the phone with his girlfriend for a substantial amount of time leading up to the shooting, and no one else was in the apartment," the statement said.
Crump also told reporters earlier that Fortson was talking to his girlfriend on FaceTime and that he grabbed his gun because he heard someone outside his apartment. He said that the deputy burst into the apartment, citing the account of the girlfriend, who has not yet been identified.
"The girlfriend acknowledges that even though she initially thought the door was forced open by the police that she stands by her emotional recollection of what happened," Crump's later statement said.
Officials have said the Florida Department of Law Enforcement is investigating. FDLE spokeswoman Gretl Plessinger told The Associated Press on Wednesday that it is unlikely the agency will have any further comment until the investigation is complete.
The sheriff said the probe was being handled as a criminal investigation and that no determination had yet been made on whether the deputy's actions were justified or not. However, the initial news release from the sheriff's office that described the shooting said that the deputy "reacted in self-defense after he encountered a 23-year-old man armed with a gun."
