'I can't breathe': Airman alone in apartment and on FaceTime shot 6 times by deputy who 'burst through the door' of wron [View all]

[Judi Lynn]

‘I can’t breathe’: Airman alone in apartment and on FaceTime shot 6 times by deputy who ‘burst through the door’ of wrong address, lawyer alleges

MATT NAHAM
May 9th, 2024, 11:46 am



U.S. Airman Roger Fortson (left) in a U.S. Air Force photo, (right) civil rights lawyer Ben Crump (AP Photo/Ted Shaffrey, File)

A prominent civil rights lawyer representing the family of a 23-year-old U.S. senior airman killed at home in Fort Walton Beach last Friday afternoon is now alleging that Roger Fortson was by himself and on FaceTime when an Okaloosa County, Florida, deputy “burst through the door” of the wrong address and shot him six times.

Attorney Ben Crump announced several demands of law enforcement on Wednesday for transparency about the circumstances of the shooting, citing “serious questions that demand immediate answers” in light of an “alarming witness statement that the police entered the wrong apartment” during their response to a disturbance call.

Crump’s law firm said that the witness was a woman on a FaceTime call with Fortson “during the entire encounter.”

“Roger was alone in his apartment when he heard a knock at the door. He asked, ‘Who is it?’ but didn’t get a response,” a press release said of the witness’s account. “A few minutes later, there was a very aggressive knock on the door, but Roger didn’t see anyone when he looked out the peephole.”

“Concerned, he did what any other law-abiding citizen would do and retrieved his legally-owned gun, but as he was walking back to the living room, police burst through the door,” the firm continued. “When they saw the gun, they shot Roger six times.”

The witness, Crump’s firm said, recalled hearing a dying Fortson say “I can’t breathe.”
“She has also said the police were in the wrong apartment as there was no disturbance in the apartment and he was alone,” the firm said.

More:
https://lawandcrime.com/high-profile/i-cant-breathe-airman-alone-in-apartment-and-on-facetime-shot-6-times-by-deputy-who-burst-through-the-door-of-wrong-address-lawyer-alleges/