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

By Melissa Alonso and Dakin Andone, CNN

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, who said at a news conference Thursday the family was set to view the bodycam video and anticipated its subsequent release.

“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 in a statement, citing the account of a person who was on FaceTime with Fortson at the time of the shooting.

Okaloosa County Sheriff Eric Aden previously said in a statement deputies responded last Friday to an apartment after receiving a call for “a disturbance in progress.” […]

At a news conference Thursday, Crump and Fortson’s mother described him as a patriot who had long dreamed of serving in the US Air Force. He was a responsible young man who respected authority, they said, and he’d hoped to buy his mother and younger siblings a house.

They urged law enforcement to release more information about the shooting, saying that the narrative put forward so far suggested Fortson had done something wrong.

“To the sheriff’s department that took my gift … I need you guys to tell the truth about my son. I need you to get his reputation right,” Fortson’s mother said.

“I know my son did not do anything to you guys. If he scared you, or if you guys wasn’t trained properly, I apologize,” she said. “But please clean my baby’s reputation.”

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