The U.S. Air Force confirmed that a 23-year-old airman supporting its Special Operations Wing at Hurlburt Field, Florida, was shot and killed during an incident involving the Okaloosa County Sheriff’s Office. The airman, identified as Senior Airman Roger Fortson, died at his off-base residence.
A deputy responding to the call of a disturbance in progress reacted in self-defense after encountering a 23-year-old man armed with a gun. The Okaloosa County Sheriff’s Office reported this in a news release on Friday. Fortson was taken to the hospital where he died, officials said.
Fortson was assigned to the 4th Special Operations Squadron as a special missions aviator, where one of his roles as a member of the squadron’s AC-130J Ghostrider aircrew was to load the gunship’s 30mm and 105mm cannons during missions. In a statement, the Air Force’s 1st Special Operations Wing said its priorities are providing casualty affairs service to the family, supporting the squadron during this tragic time, and ensuring resources are available for all who are impacted.
The sheriff’s office said the deputy was placed on administrative leave pending an investigation into the incident. The Air Force said Monday that Fortson was at his off-base residence at the time of the incident. The 1st Special Operations Wing is providing casualty affairs service to his family and a spokesperson for the wing told Air Force Times that it sent a base-wide message reminding them of the availability of mental health, chaplain, and other resources.
Fortson entered active duty on Nov. 19, 2019. Okaloosa Sheriff’s Deputy Jesse Hernandez resigned in November after an officer-involved shooting, during which he mistook a falling acorn striking his patrol vehicle for a gun shot. According to an investigation, Hernandez opened fire on the vehicle, believing the shot came from inside, where a suspect in an alleged auto theft sat after being restrained and searched. The man, who is Black, was uninjured in the shooting. The sheriff’s office determined Hernandez’ use of force was not reasonable.
The shooting occurred after a deputy made contact with an armed individual at an apartment located nearly 10 miles outside of Hurlburt Field on Friday afternoon following a call of a disturbance in progress. The deputy heard sounds of a disturbance, reacted in self-defense after he encountered a 23-year-old man armed with a gun, and after the deputy had identified himself as law enforcement, around 4:30 p.m. local time.
No other details, including the circumstances of the disturbance that prompted the local deputies to visit the apartment building, were released. Fortson was taken to an area hospital where he later died. No officers were harmed in the incident.
The deputy involved was not identified in the news release and was placed on paid administrative leave pending the outcome of an investigation and administrative review, the sheriff’s office said. The Okaloosa County Sheriff’s Office recently came under scrutiny after one of its deputies resigned following an internal investigation last year of an incident in which he fired his weapon multiple times at a detained suspect after mistaking the sound of an acorn hitting the roof of his patrol vehicle as a gunshot.
Fortson joined the Air Force on Nov. 19, 2019, according to a copy of his service record provided to Military.com. He joined as an AC-130J gunner. To protect the integrity of the investigation, no other information will be released at this time, Hurlburt Field said in the press release. The wing is the 4th Special Operations Squadron’s parent unit.
The incident in Florida follows the shooting death of another service member in Alaska on Saturday, making two service members killed within a day of each other in unrelated events. First Lt. Brandon Keyon Moultrie of Columbia, South Carolina, a soldier stationed at Fort Wainwright, was identified as the man who was killed after a fight happened outside a bar in Fairbanks, Alaska, the Anchorage Daily News reported. Moultrie, a bystander, was shot in the head and didThere was a problem generating a response. Please try again later.
