COPS investigating the death of a US airman have shown sickening bodycam footage of the moment he was killed.
Air Force Senior Airman Roger Fortson, 23, was shot dead in his own apartment as deputies responded to a call about a disturbance.
Fortson was a Special Operations Airman based at Hurlburt Field in the Florida Panhandle, around 140 miles west of the state capital Tallahassee.
Addressing the media before showing the video, Sheriff Eric Aden from Okaloosa County Sheriff’s Office said that his officers had let Fortson know they were law enforcement twice before opening fire.
He told reporters, “It pains me to show the video, but I know that you all need to see it.”
The footage shows a deputy knocking on Fortson’s door and announcing he is with the sheriff’s office.
As the door opens, the deputy yells at the airman to step back.
In the short clip, a volley of shots rings out as an officer shouts, “Drop the weapon.”
Fortson is blurred in the video as he falls to the ground.
He tells the deputy, “It’s over there. I don’t have it.”
The deputy tells Fortson not to move before calling for emergency medical services on his radio.
Fortson was in his home, five miles from his base at Hurlburt Field, Florida, on Friday, May 3, when the shooting took place.
His family is demanding a full investigation into the death.
Cops have claimed that their deputy reacted in self-defense after seeing Fortson armed with a gun.
“Our deputy responded to a call of a disturbance in progress where he encountered an armed man,” the Okaloosa County Sheriff’s Office said last Friday afternoon.
Civil rights attorney Ben Crump previously revealed at the time that the Senior Airman was on a FaceTime call with a woman when police showed up at the house.
The attorney claimed that Fortson initially heard a knock, but no one had answered.
Instead, he heard another knock that was much more aggressive.
“Concerned, he did what any other law-abiding citizen would do and retrieved his legally owned gun,” Crump said.
“But as he was walking back to the living room, police burst through the door. When they saw the gun, they shot Roger six times.
“The witness has said that she saw Roger on the ground stating, ‘I can’t breathe,’ after he was shot,” Crump continued.
“She has also said the police were in the wrong apartment as there was no disturbance in the apartment, and he was alone.”
Crump quoted Fortson’s girlfriend as hearing “a bang at the door, an aggressive bang, and she talked about how he said, ‘Who is it?’ and he heard no response.”
He went on, “She talked about how he went to the door to look through the peephole, but it was as if somebody was covering up the peephole so he couldn’t see out of it.”
The deputy knocked on the correct door.
Okaloosa County Sheriff Eric Aden said at a press conference.
Okaloosa County Sheriff Eric Aden pushed back on those claims, saying his deputies did not enter the wrong apartment.
“We are aware of a press release and other comments that falsely state our deputies entered the wrong apartment and implied they burst through the door into Mr. Fortson’s apartment,” Aden said.
“Those statements are inaccurate. What we know at this time is that the deputy announced himself, not once but twice, and Mr. Fortson’s comments indicate that he did acknowledge it was law enforcement at the door, and he arrived at the door with a firearm in his hand.
“The deputy knocked on the correct door. He did not cover the peephole or otherwise obscure its view in any way.”
‘TELL THE TRUTH ABOUT MY SON’
Chantemekki Fortson, Roger Fortson’s mother, was seen at a press conference hugging a portrait of her son in his service uniform as she demanded answers for her child’s murder.
“My child taught us how to love. How to forgive,” Chantemekki told reporters.
“So, to this sheriff’s department that took my gift that had so many accolades inside of him. To air is human, and to forgive is divine.
“I need you guys to tell the truth about my son. I need you to get his reputation right.”
The grieving mother told reporters her son’s girlfriend had heard and seen the shooting.
“She literally watched them walk over him as he was dying, taking his last breath,” Chantemekki said.
Hurlburt Field, the Air Force base where the airman was assigned, also released a statement after the news was released.
“The 1st Special Operations Wing’s priorities are providing casualty affairs service to the family, supporting the squadron during this tragic time, and ensuring resources are available for all who are impacted,” the base wrote.
The unnamed deputy who shot Roger Fortson has been placed on administrative leave.
