'Tell the truth': Lawyers for US Airman Killed by FL Deputy Call for Action

Roger Fortson celebrated his 23rd birthday on May 1.

Three days later, the US Airman was fatally shot six times by a Florida sheriff's deputy who allegedly responded to the wrong apartment for a disturbance call, according to civil rights attorney Benjamin Crump.

The sheriff's office released a different narrative of how the shooting unfolded vaguely stating an Okaloosa deputy responding to a disturbance call reacted in self-defense after he encountered a man armed with a gun.

Amid chants of "Clear Roger's name!", Fortson's family and their lawyers demanded the Okaloosa Sheriff's Department "correct this narrative" during a press conference on Thursday.

"When you make a mistake, you own up to it," Crump said. "You don't try to justify killing a good guy. The Okaloosa Sheriff's Department needs to own up to this. Tell the truth."

Okaloosa Sheriff Eric Aden called Crump's claims that the deputy entered the wrong apartment false.

"What we do know at this time is that the deputy announced himself, Mr. Fortson's comments indicate that he did acknowledge it was law enforcement at the door, and that he arrived at the door with a firearm in his hand," Aden said. "The deputy knocked on the correct door. He did not cover the peephole or otherwise obscure its view."

How the deadly shooting unfolded

In the officer bodycam video released Thursday hours after the family press conference, the deputy is seen in the apartment complex on Racetrack Road asking, "What's going on."

He asked if a "fight is going on or something." He meets with a woman who said fighting happens "frequently but this time it was sounding like it was getting out of hand."

Someone had called her to complain.

When the officer asked what door, the woman said, "I'm not sure." She later says apartment 1401 - which was Fortson's apartment number.

The officer knocks on the door, yells "Sheriff's Office, open the door!" and moves to the side. When Fortson opens the door the deputy tells him to "step back" and immediately starts shooting and calling for Fortson to "drop the gun."

As all of this is unfolding, Fortson was on Facetime with his girlfriend and alone in his off-base apartment, Crump said.

After the barrage of bullets, Fortson hits the ground and was eventually taken to a local hospital where he died.

"We have to correct this narrative," Crump said. "Roger Fortson was the best America had to offer."

The family was left with "troubling questions" after watching the video.

"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," Fortson's family said in a statement. "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?"

"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."

Aden said the Florida Department of Law Enforcement will handle the criminal investigation required. However, no determination has been made as to whether the deputy's actions were justified or not.

"I know we will come to a peaceful resolution in this matter," Aden said in a statement. "I told Mr. Fortson's family this afternoon that they have my word, if the shooting is found to be unjustified their son's name will be fully vindicated."

Crump said this is a Second Amendment issue since Fortson legally owned his gun and Florida is a right-to-carry state.

"When we think about the people we want to have guns, he is exhibit A," Crump said. "He was trained. He's very responsible."

The deputy also violated Fortson's Fourth Amendment right when he unlawfully seized and searched the apartment, according to Crump.

"He was protecting us so we could have all of those constitutional rights," Crump said. "He was just in his apartment minding his business."

'They took from his mama a good guy'

Fortson's mother, Chantemekki Fortson, called her son a "patriot" and talked about celebrating his 23rd birthday just days before his death.

"Roger was given to me as a gift," Chantemekki said. "My baby was my everything."

Chantemekki said her son wanted to put his family in a house and show the world how "to love unconditionally."

Crump also emphasized that Fortson "respected authority" and would have "never shot at a police officer."

"They shot a good guy. They killed a good guy. They took from the Air Force a good guy," Crump said. "They took from his mama a good guy."

Fortson was "proud to be in the Air Force," Crump said, adding that the Senior Airman wanted to serve his country since he was a child. He believed in "truth" as well as "dignity as the principles of America."

"He did everything that he did for his family," Crump said. "He was trying to give his family a better life."

This story has been updated to add the bodycam video of the shooting and comments released by the Okaloosa Sheriff's Department.