Attorney for family of U.S. Airman shot, killed by deputy to reveal new evidence

DEKALB COUNTY, Ga. — The family of a U.S. Airman shot and killed by a Florida deputy will hold a news conference Thursday. Their attorney says they have new evidence in the case.

Airman Roger Fortson, who grew up in metro Atlanta, died on May 3 when a deputy with the Okaloosa County Sheriff’s Office shot him multiple times.

[DOWNLOAD: Free WSB-TV News app for alerts as news breaks]

His family’s attorney says that Fortson was on FaceTime with his girlfriend when he heard an aggressive knock on the door and retrieved his legally owned gun. When he opened the door, the deputy shot him several times.

Civil rights attorney Ben Crump represents Fortson’s family. He will speak at a news conference at 11 a.m. at New Birth Missionary Baptist in DeKalb.

The news conference will show new evidence in the case and also give an update on how Fortson’s girlfriend and his dog are doing.

RELATED STORIES:

• Mother of US Airman killed by Florida deputy calls for justice at Atlanta vigil
• Body camera video released in death of U.S. Airman from Atlanta shot by Florida deputy
• Body of U.S. Airman shot by Florida deputy returns home to Atlanta

Fortson’s girlfriend told Channel 2′s Candace McCowan on Wednesday that she is still shaken, but she wants the world to know what Fortson’s final moments were before the shooting.

“We heard a knock, and he said, ‘Who is it?’ He said, “Nobody comes up to my house, I don’t know who that could be,’” she said.

“Then the knock gets aggressive, and he says, ‘I’m going to grab my gun because I don’t know who that is. He asked who it was louder,” she said. “What I thought was... It was gunshots. That’s when I heard the officer then identify himself and says, ‘Put the gun down. And Roger says, ‘OK, OK.’”

She said she then heard what she believes were his last conscious moments.

“Roger says, ‘I can’t breathe. I can’t breathe.’ He calls out three gunshots to the chest and three to the forearm,” she said. “I didn’t know what to do. There was nothing I could do.”

She said she is still hanging on to a final moment with him on her doorbell camera just days before when Fortson left her home in Atlanta. He told her he loved her, and she repeated it back to him.

“We talked every day. We went from seeing each other once a month to pretty much every weekend,” she said.

She said she knows Forston would want the truth to come out.

[SIGN UP: WSB-TV Daily Headlines Newsletter]

Body of U.S. Airman shot by Florida deputy returns home to Atlanta U.S. Airman Roger Fortson, 23, was shot and killed last week. His body is now being reunited with his family.

©2024 Cox Media Group