{"id":77431,"date":"2025-05-06T15:17:53","date_gmt":"2025-05-06T15:17:53","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/one.sightlinemg.com\/airforcetimes\/uncategorized\/2025\/05\/06\/lawsuit-planned-over-deputys-fatal-shooting-of-us-airman\/"},"modified":"2026-08-08T16:00:14","modified_gmt":"2026-08-08T16:00:14","slug":"lawsuit-planned-over-deputys-fatal-shooting-of-us-airman","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/one.sightlinemg.com\/airforcetimes\/news\/your-air-force\/2025\/05\/06\/lawsuit-planned-over-deputys-fatal-shooting-of-us-airman\/","title":{"rendered":"Family sues over Florida deputy\u2019s killing of US airman"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

Editor\u2019s note: This story has been updated with additional reporting by The Associated Press.<\/i><\/p>\n\n\n\n

The family of a U.S. airman who was shot<\/a> by a Florida sheriff\u2019s deputy inside his own home sued the deputy, the sheriff and the owner of the airman\u2019s apartment complex on Tuesday, saying they want to ensure people are held accountable for his 2024 death.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The complaint alleges that Deputy Eddie Duran<\/a> used excessive and unconstitutional deadly force when he shot Roger Fortson<\/a> just seconds after the Black senior airman opened his apartment door in Fort Walton Beach on May 3, 2024. Duran was responding to a domestic disturbance report at Fortson\u2019s apartment that turned out to be false.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cI want accountability because he was 23. I want accountability because he had a life ahead of him. I want accountability because he was in his own home,\u201d said Fortson\u2019s mother, Meka Fortson, who wore a shirt emblazoned with an image of her son in his Air Force uniform while appearing with the family\u2019s attorney, Ben Crump<\/a>, at a press conference to announce the wrongful death lawsuit.<\/a><\/p>\n\n\n\n

The complaint filed in federal court in Pensacola details alleged failures by the Okaloosa County Sheriff\u2019s Office in training and supervision and claims that staff at the apartment complex where Fortson lived provided misleading information that led to the fatal law enforcement response.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Messages were left seeking comment from attorneys for Duran, a spokesperson for the Okaloosa County Sheriff\u2019s Office and an agent for the apartment complex\u2019s management company.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Duran has pleaded not guilty to a charge of manslaughter with a firearm<\/a> in the shooting, which renewed debate on police killings and race<\/a>, and occurred against a wider backdrop of increased attention by the military to racial issues in its ranks.<\/a> Duran identifies as Hispanic, according to his voter registration.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The airman\u2019s mother said she has \u201cno faith\u201d in Okaloosa County, expressing doubt that Duran will get a \u201creal trial\u201d in the Florida Panhandle community where he worked as a law enforcement officer.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

It is highly unusual for Florida law enforcement officers to be charged for an on-duty killing. Convictions in such cases are even rarer.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cThis is not policing. This is an unlawful execution,\u201d said Crump, a civil rights attorney who has been involved in a number of cases involving law enforcement killings of Black people, including those of Michael Brown<\/a>, Breonna Taylor<\/a>, Tyre Nichols<\/a> and George Floyd<\/a>.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cWe believe Roger\u2019s death was a result of a pattern and practice here in Okaloosa County,\u201d added Crump, who announced the lawsuit at a press conference at Greater Peace Missionary Baptist Church in Fort Walton Beach.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Duran came to Fortson\u2019s door in response to a report of a physical fight inside an apartment. A worker at the complex had identified Fortson\u2019s apartment<\/a> as the location of a loud argument, according to sheriff\u2019s investigators. Fortson, who was assigned to the 4th Special Operations Squadron at Hurlburt Field, was alone at the time, talking with his girlfriend on a FaceTime video call.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Duran\u2019s body camera video<\/a> showed what happened next<\/a>.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The deputy pounded at the door repeatedly and yelled, \u201cSheriff\u2019s office \u2014 open the door!\u201d Fortson opened the door with his legally purchased gun in his right hand, pointed to the ground.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The deputy said, \u201cStep back,\u201d then immediately began firing<\/a>. Fortson fell backward onto the floor. Only then did the deputy yell, \u201cDrop the gun!\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Deputies had never been called to Fortson\u2019s apartment before, 911 records show, but they had been called to a nearby unit 10 times in the previous eight months, including once for a domestic disturbance.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Crump defended Fortson\u2019s right to answer his door with his firearm in hand.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cHe had a right to the Second Amendment too \u2014 to protect his home, to protect his castle,” Crump said. \u201cHe didn\u2019t do anything wrong.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Associated Press writer Curt Anderson in Tampa contributed to this report. Kate Payne is a corps member for The Associated Press\/Report for America Statehouse News Initiative. <\/i>Report for America<\/i><\/a> is a nonprofit national service program that places journalists in local newsrooms to report on undercovered issues.<\/i><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Former\u00a0Okaloosa County Sheriff\u2019s Deputy Eddie Duran\u00a0shot and killed Senior Airman Roger Fortson at the door of Fortson\u2019s apartment in May 2024. 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