Photo: U.S. Air Force
The family of Roger Fortson, a senior airman who was shot and killed by a Florida sheriff's deputy, has filed a federal civil rights lawsuit.
On Tuesday (March 6), Fortson's family filed the complaint in a Pensacola courthouse, alleging that Okaloosa sheriff's deputy Eddie Duran used excessive force when he fatally shot the airman in his home on May 3, 2024, per CNN.
The shooting unfolded at Fortson's apartment in Fort Walton Beach, Florida, where Duran was responding to a disturbance report. Fortson, who was holding a gun pointed toward the floor, was killed seconds after he answered the door, body camera footage shows. He was home alone at the time of the shooting.
Duran was fired from the sheriff's office after an investigation found the airman "did not make any hostile, attacking movements, and therefore, the former deputy's use of deadly force was not objectively reasonable." He was charged with manslaughter with a firearm and has pleaded not guilty.
Fortson's family is being represented by civil rights attorney Ben Crump. Their complaint outlines alleged failures by the Okalossa County Sheriff's Office to properly train and supervise deputies and claims that apartment staff provided misleading information that led authorities to their fatal response. A worker had identified Fortson's apartment as the location of a loud argument as police were responding to the disturbance report.
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