Videos reveal U.S. Airman Roger Forston’s last words

Angelina Velasquez
·2 min read
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The release of footage from the fatal shooting of U.S. Airman Roger Fortson has prompted demands for a closer look into the sheriff's deputy’s actions.

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According to attorney Ben Crump, who is representing the young man’s family, “There is no question that the officer acted with impulse and a lack of proper training when he shot and killed Roger within seconds of the door opening.”

His latest remarks about the tragedy were released on Friday (May 10), just one day after Okaloosa County Sheriff Eric Aden held a press conference releasing the deputy’s body camera video to the public. The May 3 incident unfolded when law enforcement was alerted to a possible domestic disturbance involving a man and a woman at a Fort Walton Beach, Florida, apartment complex.

Once at the location, the unidentified deputy spoke with two residents who claimed to have possibly heard a dispute between two people that had grown out of control. The footage revealed that one of the individuals suggested the sounds could have come from unit 1401, which belonged to 23-year-old Fortson. The active-duty senior airman returned home 30 minutes prior and was on a FaceTime call with his girlfriend. He was the only person in his residence.

https://twitter.com/BenCrumpLaw/status/1789094645802188889

The released recording showed the deputy knock on the Atlanta native’s door three times as he yelled, “Sheriff’s office, open the door!” When Fortson complied, he had his registered weapon in one hand, pointed at the ground. The officer almost immediately yelled, “Step back” and began to fire his gun six times as the man fell to the ground.

Crump said that “only after Roger’s body was riddled with bullets did the officer instruct Roger to drop his gun. Even after he was shot, he intended to comply with the officer’s commands to drop his weapon, saying with his final breaths, ‘It’s over there. I don’t have it.’” Furthermore, he added that “it is clear that this officer needs to be investigated and held accountable for the execution of Roger.” The young man’s girlfriend turned over her recording of the FaceTime call, which captured the audio of Fortson’s final moments in his apartment.

In a four-minute clip, he is heard saying, “I can’t breathe” as a man informed him that EMS were on the way. He was pronounced dead at a hospital. His family remains adamant that the deputy responded to the wrong apartment. The deputy involved has been placed on administrative leave as the Florida Department of Law Enforcement and State Attorney’s Office conduct independent investigations. Possible charges are pending the outcome of the latter review.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=d1cID6Y6TwM

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