Roger Fortson opened the door of his Florida apartment with a gun and was immediately shot six times by a sheriff’s deputy responding on May 3 to a complaint about an argument. Critics cite the deputy’s rapid decision to open fire and his mere presence at the apartment — where the Air Force senior airman was alone and FaceTiming with his girlfriend — as proof that it was the latest unjustified killing involving a Black person shot at home by law enforcement, reports the Associated Press. Authorities have seized on Fortson's holding a gun when he answered the door to call it a clear-cut case of self-defense for a deputy confronted with a split-second, life-or-death decision.
Investigators will consider these factors when deciding whether to charge the deputy in a case that reflects realities officers face every day in a country where millions of people carry guns. Policing experts say Fortson's simply holding a gun wasn’t enough justification to use deadly force. They say the proliferation of legal and illegal firearms is forcing officers to decide faster what constitutes a deadly threat. “The speed of the [Fortson] shooting is pretty intense. It’s happening very, very fast,” said Ian Adams, a University of South Carolina criminologist and a former police officer. “The presence of a gun enhances the risk. But mere presence is not at all justification for using deadly force,” Ben Crump, an attorney for Fortson’s family, says the deputy went to the wrong unit. Adams said beyond the body camera footage there must be some behavioral indication that a person intends to cause deadly harm with a gun. Scott Lacey, a former Air Force Special Operations Command officer who served with Fortson, believes Fortson’s shooting was unjustified. “When he just opens the door, sees him with a gun and unloads six rounds on the senior airman, to me that just screams unjust right away,” said Lacey, who was an Arizona state trooper after leaving the military.
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