ATLANTA — Attorney Ben Crump has announced that a lawsuit will be filed in the police shooting death of US airman Roger Fortson.
An Okaloosa County Sheriff’s deputy shot and killed Fortson inside his apartment on May 3, 2024.
A news conference to announce the lawsuit will be held today in Walton, Florida.
Fortson grew up in DeKalb County.
Fortson’s family said the officer used excessive force and that he should have known he was in the wrong apartment.
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Attorneys for the family said deputies were responding to reports of a domestic disturbance inside one of the apartments involving a man and a woman. They say the deputies ended up at the wrong apartment.
The sheriff’s office maintains that the deputy shot Fortson because he answered the door with a gun.
Fortson was shot by the deputy six times.
“Police used excessive force in executing him,” Crump said at a previous news conference. “I mean, six shots. Bam! Bam! Bam! Bam! Bam! Bam! He pulled the trigger six times.”
In the body camera video, Fortson, who was a registered owner of the gun, is holding the gun down, trained toward the floor. He was shot within a second of opening the door.
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