Body camera footage has been released of the moment a 23-year-old airman was killed in his home after police allegedly forced their way into the wrong apartment and shot him.
U.S. Air Force Senior Airman Roger Fortson, 23, was identified as the young man shot dead in a shooting last Friday afternoon.
Heartbreaking footage shows the moments before the deadly shooting as a resident of the apartment complex describes a disturbance to law enforcement officers as she leads them through the building.
The law enforcement officer confirmed with the woman that she was going to the fourth floor before taking the elevator to Fortson’s off-base residence at an apartment complex at 319 Racetrack Road in Okaloosa County, Florida.
Body camera footage has been released of the moment a 23-year-old airman was killed in his home after police allegedly burst into the wrong apartment and shot him.
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When Fortson opened the door to his home, the officer fired six rapid shots that sent the 23-year-old to the ground.
An Okaloosa County deputy was responding to a report of a disturbance and “reacted in self-defense after encountering a 23-year-old man armed with a gun,” police say.
A witness, who was on FaceTime with Fortson during the time of the shooting, stated that Fortson heard a knock on the door and asked who was there.
U.S. Air Force Senior Airman Roger Fortson, 23, was identified as the young man shot dead in a shooting last Friday afternoon.
The black airman (pictured) was killed in his Florida apartment after police burst into the wrong apartment and shot him while his horrified friend watched on FaceTime.
When he received no response but heard another “very aggressive bang,” Fortson looked through the peephole but saw no one and became concerned.
Concerned, Fortson retrieved a gun, which he legally owned, according to the witness.
When he returned to his living room with the gun, authorities allegedly pushed open his door and shot him six times.
The traumatized witness, who remained on the FaceTime call during the horrific shooting, recalled Fortson saying “I can’t breathe” after the shots were fired. Fortson later died at the hospital.
The officer involved in the incident has since been placed on administrative leave while the shooting continues to be investigated.
The 23-year-old was stationed at the Special Operations Wing at Hurlburt Field, Florida. He entered active duty on November 19, 2019.
He was assigned to the 4th Special Operations Squadron as a special missions aviator, where one of his duties as a crew member of the squadron’s AC-130J Ghostrider was to load the gunship’s 30mm and 105mm cannons during missions.
The horrific incident took place at Fortson’s off-base residence, an apartment complex at 319 Racetrack Road in Okaloosa County, Florida.
Fortson (pictured left) was assigned to the 4th Special Operations Squadron as a special missions aviator after entering active duty on Nov. 19, 2019.
The Air Force’s 1st Special Operations Wing said its priorities are to “provide victim affairs service to the family, support the squadron during this tragic time and ensure resources are available for all those affected.”
Fortson’s mother, Meka Fortson, said her son’s dream had always been to serve his country and he wanted to become a pilot.
‘It’s disbelief. Every day I try to go to sleep early to wake up like it’s a dream,” she said. military.com.
‘He just returned from deployment to fight for us. With everything that is happening in our country, he is fighting for us and he came back to be killed, killed like that with such violence.’
“He was my gift and he was taken away from me,” Roger’s mother said. ‘And they didn’t give it to me. God gave me that gift… and the gift was taken away from me.’
A similar incident occurred at the same sheriff’s office in November, in which the deputy shot an unarmed and handcuffed man after he mistook the sound of a falling acorn for a gunshot, according to The Washington Post.
The Washington Post’s database of fatal police shootings from 2015 to April of this year found that police killed the highest number of people on record in 2023.
Black Americans die at the hands of police at more than twice the rate of white Americans.