* (Disclaimer: This video content is intended for educational and informational purposes only) *
Okaloosa County, Florida — On May 3, 2024, at around 4:28 p.m., a Deputy with the Okaloosa County Sheriff's Office responded to a call of a disturba…
* (Disclaimer: This video content is intended for educational and informational purposes only) *
Okaloosa County, Florida — On May 3, 2024, at around 4:28 p.m., a Deputy with the Okaloosa County Sheriff's Office responded to a call of a disturbance in progress in Fort Walton Beach. The bodycam footage shows the deputy arriving at a Fort Walton Beach apartment building and speaking to a woman outside who described hearing an argument. The deputy then went up an elevator to the fourth floor and knocks on a door three times. He announces himself twice, saying, “Sheriff’s office, open the door.”.
The 23-year-old, Senior Airman Roger Fortson opened the door and could be seen holding a gun pointed down toward the floor. Within seconds of the apartment’s door opening, the deputy says “step back” and is then seen firing his weapon. Fortson immediately falls to the floor as the deputy fires. At least five shots are heard. After the shots, with Fortson on the ground, the deputy yells for Fortson to “drop the gun” and Fortson responds “it’s over there” and “I don’t have it.” The video ends with the deputy reporting that shots have been fired and requesting emergency medical services come to the scene. Fortson was taken to a hospital where he died.
Attorney Ben Crump, who has been hired by Fortson’s family, has said Fortson was talking to his girlfriend on FaceTime when the deputy arrived. Crump said Fortson grabbed his gun because he heard someone outside his apartment, got no response when he asked who was there and discovered the peephole on his door was blocked. Okaloosa County Sheriff Eric Aden presented the redacted video hours after the family of Fortson and their attorneys held a news conference in which they disputed that the deputy acted in self-defense. Aden rejected assertions made by Crump, that the deputy had gone to the wrong apartment, covered the door’s peephole and did not announce himself.
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