On Friday, the Okaloosa County Sheriff’s Office (OCSO) terminated the officer who shot Senior Airman Roger Fortson, 23, in his Fort Walton Beach apartment on May 3.
Following the completion of an administrative internal affairs investigation, the OCSO determined Deputy Eddie Duran's use of deadly force was not objectively reasonable and therefore violated agency policy.
“This tragic incident should have never occurred,” Okaloosa County Sheriff Eric Aden said. “The objective facts do not support the use of deadly force as an appropriate response to Mr. Fortson’s actions."
OCSO opened the investigation immediately after the shooting. It is separate from the active criminal investigation that remains ongoing with the Florida Department of Law Enforcement (FDLE).
The administrative investigation determined these objective facts in the incident:
- The former deputy was dispatched to an in-progress physical disturbance at an apartment complex located at 319 Racetrack Road NW. Dispatch records confirm the location of the disturbance was reported to be taking place in Unit 1401.
- On arrival at the apartment complex to which he was dispatched to, the former deputy met with an employee of the apartment complex who identified Unit 1401 as the location of the disturbance and relayed to the former deputy that there had been recent unreported disturbances at or around the same apartment.
- The former deputy’s interaction with the apartment complex’s employee and all further actions were recorded by his body-worn camera.
- Upon arriving at the door to Unit 1401, the former deputy listened for sounds of any disturbance inside the apartment. Hearing none, the former deputy knocked without announcing and listened for a response. When describing what he heard, the former deputy said he heard: “Something to the effect of it’s the f****** police.”
- The former deputy knocked loudly two more times and announced “Sheriff’s Office” both of those times. The administrative investigation found that the former deputy knocked three times and announced his presence two times within approximately 40 seconds.
- When Mr. Fortson opened the door, the former deputy stated he saw Mr. Fortson holding a firearm in his right hand. The firearm was pointed at the ground sufficiently enough for the former deputy to clearly see the rear face of the rear sight.
- The former deputy confirmed Mr. Fortson did not physically resist him in any way, and the investigation concluded that Mr. Fortson did not point the gun in the former deputy’s direction.
"I want to thank our dedicated team for their around-the-clock effort to ensure a thorough review of the facts here," Sheriff Aden said in a post. "Since the tragedy occurred, our office has been fully accountable and transparent in its compliance with statutory requirements, providing numerous public statements, making accessible the available body-worn camera footage and other related records, meeting with Mr. Fortson’s family and legal counsel, and communicating openly with the U.S. Air Force and our community at-large. We continue to wish Mr. Fortson’s family comfort and peace."
Click here to access the full administrative internal affairs investigation.
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