Attorney Crump said deputies were responding to a disturbance call, but went to the wrong unit. He said Fortson grabbed his “legally registered firearm” because he heard someone outside his apartment. He got no response when he asked who was there and discovered the peephole on his door was blocked.
“He was just in his apartment, minding his businesses,” Crump said. “They could have made sure they were at the right apartment. They had a duty to make sure they were at the right apartment before they busted in the door.”
Fortson’s mother, Chantemekki Fortson, walked into the news conference while holding a framed portrait of her son in his dress uniform. She started crying as Crump spoke about her son’s death inside his Fort Walton Beach apartment.
“My baby was shot up,” she said.
“He was living his dream. By doing so, he was going to make it better for his mother and siblings so they could have a better chance at the American dream,” Crump said.
According to Crump, Fortson, who is originally from Atlanta, was shot six times and died at a hospital. The deputy who shot him was placed on administrative leave pending an investigation.
The Okaloosa County Sheriff’s Office planned a news conference on Thursday, May 9, 2024. It has declined to identify the race of the responding deputies. Officials have said that the Florida Department of Law Enforcement and the local State Attorney’s Office will investigate the shooting.
“Any law-abiding citizens who feel they have a right to the Fourth Amendment and the Second Amendment, they should be troubled by this,” Crump said.
Ben Crump, who is a noted civil rights attorney, called the shooting “an unjustifiable killing” and said the sheriff’s office needed to own up to it instead of maintaining that deputies were acting in self-defense.
“For whatever reason, they thought he was a bad guy, but he was a good guy. He was a great guy. He was an exceptional guy,” Crump said. “They took a patriot from us.”