Roger Fortson was minding his business inside of his home when he was killed by an inept Okaloosa County sheriff’s deputy who couldn’t be bothered to do his due diligence before busting into the airman’s home. BOSSIP previously reported on the incident and today we have some significant updates.
This is Roger Fortson — a 23-year-old active-duty Senior Airman who was shot 6X by a Florida officer last Friday. We are calling for transparency in the investigation into Roger’s death and the IMMEDIATE release of bodycam video to the family.
— Ben Crump (@AttorneyCrump) May 9, 2024
According to USA Today, the body camera video from the shooting, while heavily redacted, has been released by Sheriff Eric Aden in order to dispute the allegations that the Fortson family has made. Not sure this video is the “gotcha” that Sheriff Aden thinks it is, but here we are.
Warning, this video is graphic and can be extremely disturbing.
Bodycam footage of police killing Air Force Senior Airman Roger Fortson, 23, has been released after responding to the wrong apartment.
The “news” article I quoted earlier today was apparently wrong and therefor my statement that they broke the door down to gain entry was wrong… pic.twitter.com/YbIWYs91ua
— Mrgunsngear (@Mrgunsngear) May 10, 2024
In the initial reporting of this story, it was stated that the deputy went to the wrong apartment. Let 12 tell it, the woman who initially made the 911 phone call over a disturbance gave the still unnamed deputy was specifically given Fortson’s room number. However, we, the public, can’t verify that information because the video is so edited. That’s not transparency, that’s suspicious and dare we say janky.
As you see in the video clip, Fortson was gunned down within seconds of answering the door. In light of the release, the family released the following statement per USA Today:
“In the four-and-a-half minute, heavily redacted video, it is very troubling that the deputy gave no verbal commands and shot multiple times within a split second of the door being opened, killing Roger. Despite the redactions, the video has provided some answers, but it’s also raised even more troubling questions: As the officer didn’t tell Roger to drop the weapon before shooting, was the officer trained to give verbal warnings? Did the officer try to initiate life-saving measures? Was the officer trained to deal with law-abiding citizens who are registered gun owners?”
In another update via Pensacola News Journal, the woman who Fortson was on FaceTime with at the time of his death has released the portion of the video she recorded after the 23-year-old was shot.
Again, be warned that this video may be disturbing.
Roger Fortson’s girlfriend recorded on Facetime his encounter with Okaloosa County, Florida Sheriff’s Deputies. His girlfriend and her attorney have instructed us that we can release a portion of the Facetime video that was recorded at the time of this tragedy. pic.twitter.com/hvm7lStHb7
— Ben Crump (@AttorneyCrump) May 9, 2024
The family is right, there are so many more questions now and the sheriff’s office better be prepared to answer all of them if they really want to build any level of confidence with the public.