Attorney, family of Black airman fatally shot by Florida deputies want a transparent investigation

By DAVID FISCHER
Associated Press

MIAMI (AP) — The family of a Black U.S. Air Force airman fatally shot by Florida sheriff’s deputies at his off-base apartment will join civil rights attorney Ben Crump for a news conference calling for transparency in the investigation. Crump will speak at a news conference in Fort Walton Beach, Florida, on Thursday morning. Crump says deputies responding to a disturbance call at a Florida apartment complex burst into the wrong unit and fatally shot 23-year-old Roger Fortson. He says Fortson was home alone May 3 when deputies responding to a disturbance call saw he was armed with a gun. The Okaloosa County Sheriff’s Office says a deputy fired in self-defense after encountering an armed man.