Airman fatally shot by Florida deputy who was in wrong apartment, family attorney says

An attorney for the family of a Black airman fatally shot by a Florida deputy in his home last week is calling for the release of law enforcement bodycam footage, saying a witness believes the deputy was at the wrong apartment.

An attorney for the family of a Black airman fatally shot by a Florida deputy in his home last week is calling for the release of law enforcement bodycam footage, saying a witness believes the deputy was at the wrong apartment. The 23-year-old victim has been identified by his family as Roger Fortson – an ​active-duty senior airman, according to family attorney Ben Crump. “The circumstances surrounding Roger’s death raise serious questions that demand immediate answers from authorities, especially considering the alarming witness statement that the police entered the wrong apartment,” Crump said, citing the account of an unidentified person who was on FaceTime with Fortson at the time of the shooting. Okaloosa County Sheriff Eric Aden said in a statement deputies responded to an apartment after receiving a call for “a disturbance in progress.” “Hearing sounds of a disturbance, (a deputy) reacted in self-defense after he encountered a 23-year-old man armed with a gun and after the deputy had identified himself as law enforcement,” the sheriff said. “The deputy shot the man, who later succumbed to his injuries,” said the sheriff.