The U.S. Air Force was shot six times when the police answered the door with a gun during a video call at home.
An Air Force man in Florida, USA, was shot six times when the police came to his home while video chatting with his girlfriend. He was shot six times when he answered the door with a gun. His family claimed that the police found the wrong unit and broke in the door. The police released the body camera footage to refute.
Local media “Air Force Times” reported that 23-year-old Air Force Roger Fortson was shot dead at his home at about 4:30 pm last Friday (3rd).
Ben Crump, a civil rights attorney representing Fordson’s family, said Fordson was video chatting with a woman at the time. According to other media reports, the woman was his girlfriend.
According to the woman, Fordson heard someone knocking on the door, but when he asked who it was, no one answered, Crump said. A few minutes later there was a “very loud knock on the door,” but when Fordson looked through the door hole he saw no one.
Fordson took his gun in self-defense, and when he returned to the living room, police had broken down the door and shot him six times. The woman heard Fordson, who was lying on the ground, say, “I can’t breathe.”
Fordson later died in hospital.
The National Broadcasting Corporation (NBC) reported that Okaloosa County police later released the officers’ body camera footage to clarify that the officers were not looking for the wrong unit, but someone told the police that they heard someone arguing inside the house.
The body camera captured Fordson opening the door. He was holding a gun with the muzzle pointed down. The police officer yelled at him to “stand back” and then fired. He continued to yell: “Put the gun down! Put the gun down.” lay down!”
Fordson, who was shot and lying on the ground, said “there,” but the officer asked him again to put the gun down, and Fordson responded that the gun was no longer in his hand.
Crump later issued a statement saying that the officer fired multiple times as Fordson opened the door instead of telling Fordson to put the gun down first. He also insisted that the officers found the wrong unit because Fordson had been video chatting with his girlfriend and there was no one else in the house.
The case remains under investigation and the officer who shot Fordson has been placed on paid administrative leave.
