OKALOOSA COUNTY, Fla. –– The family of Roger Fortson has released a statement after viewing the body cam footage from the deadly shooting. Roger was a 23-year-old active-duty Senior Airman who was fatally shot six times by a Florida Sheriff’s Deputy on Friday, May 3.The family issued the following statement:
“In the four-and-a-half minute, heavily redacted video, it is very troubling that the deputy gave no verbal commands and shot multiple times within a split second of the door being opened, killing Roger. Despite the redactions, the video has provided some answers, but it’s also raised even more troubling questions: As the officer didn’t tell Roger to drop the weapon before shooting, was the officer trained to give verbal warnings? Did the officer try to initiate life-saving measures? Was the officer trained to deal with law-abiding citizens who are registered gun owners?
“The girlfriend acknowledges that even though she initially thought the door was forced open by the police that she stands by her emotional recollection of what happened. To provide transparency into what happened during the Facetime video with Roger, his girlfriend and her attorney have instructed us that we can release a portion of the Facetime video that was recorded at the time of this tragedy.
“We remain adamant that the police had the wrong apartment as Roger was on the phone with his girlfriend for a substantial amount of time leading up to the shooting, and no one else was in the apartment.”
The girlfriend will be holding a press conference in the near future so the media can hear from her directly, with details forthcoming.
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