Experts say a gun alone does not justify deadly force as a Florida airman was fatally shot

On the afternoon of May 3, Roger Fortson opened the door of his Florida apartment with a gun in his hand and was immediately shot six times by a sheriff's deputy who was responding to a complaint about a fight.

Fortson's supporters point to the deputy's quick decision to open fire and his mere presence in the apartment – where the Air Force senior airman appeared to be alone and FaceTiming with his girlfriend – as evidence that it was an obvious one unjustified murder and the recent tragedy involving a black man. An American is shot dead at home by police officers. Meanwhile, authorities have noted that Fortson had a gun in his hand when he answered the door, calling the shooting a clear case of self-defense by a deputy who faced a life-or-death decision in a matter of seconds.

Investigators will consider these factors when deciding whether to charge the deputy in a case that also reflects the reality that officers face every day in a country where millions of people carry guns, including in Florida, one of the States with the largest gun ownership.

Police experts say that Fortson simply holding a gun when he opened the door was not sufficient justification for using deadly force. But investigators must also consider what information the officer had when he responded and whether Fortson showed behavioral signs that he posed a threat. They also say the proliferation of legal and illegal firearms is forcing officials across the country to decide more quickly than ever before what constitutes a deadly threat.

“The speed of shooting is quite high. It happens very, very quickly,” said Ian Adams, an assistant professor who studies criminology at the University of South Carolina and a former police officer, after watching the deputy’s body camera video of Fortson’s shooting.

“The presence of a weapon increases the risk. But mere presence does not at all justify the use of deadly force,” Adams said.

The redacted video released by the Okaloosa County sheriff on Thursday in response to allegations from attorneys for Fortson's family shows the deputy speaking to a woman outside the Fort Walton Beach apartment complex and describing hearing someone arguing.

The deputy, whose name and race were not disclosed, knocks on Fortson's door, pauses, then knocks again and yells that he is from the sheriff's office. Fortson eventually opens the door while seemingly holding a gun at his side, pointed at the ground. Within seconds, the deputy shot Fortson six times and then yelled at him to drop his weapon.

Sheriff Eric Aden said the deputy acted in self-defense and he denied claims that the deputy was at the wrong apartment. Ben Crump, an attorney for Fortson's family, said they remain convinced the deputy went to the wrong unit because Fortson was home alone and had a FaceTime conversation with his girlfriend.

The Florida Department of Law Enforcement is investigating.

Adams said there must be behavioral evidence beyond body camera footage that a person intends to cause deadly harm with their weapon.

“We also live in a nation with more guns than people. “If the mere presence of a weapon were the measure of the appropriate use of lethal force, there would be a spate of police shootings,” he said.

The rise in gun ownership has changed policing in some ways, said Chuck Wexler, executive director of the Police Executive Research Forum, a Washington-based think tank that focuses on critical issues in policing.

“This is a tragedy on so many levels, for everyone – for the family and for the officer. Weapons speed up decision-making and that is the challenge here,” he said.

In a statement Friday, Crump focused on the deputy's quick use of deadly force and the lack of a verbal command to Fortson to drop his weapon until the deputy shot him.

But experts say officers are not required to give orders or warnings when using deadly force. David Klinger, a criminal justice professor at the University of Missouri-St. Louis, who is also a former police officer, said the standard is to issue a warning when possible.

“But if pausing to give a warning or verbal command increases the risk of a lethal threat, then that is not feasible,” he said.

Scott Lacey, a former Air Force Special Operations Command officer who served in the same squadron as Fortson, said he believes Fortson's shooting was unjustified.

“For him to just open the door, see him with a gun and fire six shots at the senior airman, that immediately screams injustice to me,” said Lacey, who spent time as an Arizona State Trooper after leaving the military. “The airman did not raise his weapon or show any hostile intent.”

Lacey responded to a Facebook post from Air Force leaders urging people on base to support Fortson's family while maintaining their professionalism. Lacey called the shooting unjustified and instead urged the commander to “take a stand and do something,” adding that he would feel unsafe with the sheriff's department on his doorstep.

This isn't the first time the Okaloosa County Sheriff's Office has come under scrutiny for its use of force.

LaTanya Griffin filed a federal lawsuit against the department in August, alleging that officers used a battering ram to enter her home while serving a search warrant in 2019. Griffin, who had been sleeping naked, was ordered at gunpoint to go outside and remain naked in front of officers and the public, she said. She was never arrested or charged with a crime.

In court filings, attorneys for the sheriff's office said the deputies' actions were consistent with “established, appropriate and generally accepted police procedures.” The legal dispute is not yet over.

“I think the Justice Department needs to take a look at what's happening with the Okaloosa County Sheriff's Office,” said Kevin Anderson, an attorney for Griffin.

In another incident six months ago, an Okaloosa County deputy responded to the sound of a falling acorn striking his patrol car by firing several shots at the vehicle containing a handcuffed black man.

After hearing the deputy yell “shots fired” and “I’m hit,” his supervisor also shot at the vehicle. The man inside survived the barrage, shaken but uninjured.

Internal investigators concluded the supervisor's actions were “objectively reasonable” because she acted to protect the other deputy from an “immediate and imminent threat of death.” However, the report found that the officer, who initially yelled “shots fired,” did not act rationally when he fired his weapon. He resigned before the investigation was completed.

In her interviews with investigators, the supervisor mentioned that the officers had been through a lot in recent weeks, including the killing of an officer who was responding to a domestic violence call and the involvement of another in an on-duty shooting.

Fortson's shooting came just days after four members of a U.S. Marshals Service fugitive group were killed while serving an arrest warrant in North Carolina. Some civil service groups have suggested that such killings could impact how officers perceive threats.

“I don’t think the existence of previous shootings will ever be a justification,” Adams said. “There is no world in which officers are not at risk of firearms. Officials are at risk. But risk alone is not a reason to use force, let alone lethal force.”

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Associated Press writer Tara Copp in Washington contributed to this report.