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Roger Fortson

Age : 23

Gender : Male

Race : Black

Date : 05/03/2024

Location : 319 Racetrack Road

City : Fort Walton Beach

County : Okaloosa

State : Florida

Agency : Okaloosa County Sheriff's Office

Officer(s) :Eddie Duran

Cause of Death : Gunshot

Event : Shot and killed in his home by deputy

OPEN RECORDS SUMMARY :

On 05/03/2024, Okaloosa County Sheriff's Office Deputy Eddie Duran responded to the apartment complex at 319 Racetrack Road NW after receiving a report of a disturbance. The information dispatch received did not identify Roger Fortson or establish that a crime was occurring inside Fortson's apartment. Duran went to Fortson's door and initially knocked without identifying himself as law enforcement.
Roger Fortson, a 23-year-old U.S. Air Force Senior Airman assigned to Hurlburt Field, was alone in his apartment speaking with his girlfriend on FaceTime while playing video games. Hearing repeated loud knocks from an unidentified person, Fortson looked through the peephole but did not see anyone because Duran was standing out of view. Concerned that an unknown person was outside his apartment, Fortson legally retrieved his personally owned handgun, holding it pointed toward the floor as he approached the door.
Seconds after Fortson opened the door, Duran fired six rounds, striking him multiple times. Body camera footage shows Fortson holding the handgun in a lowered position when he was shot. An internal affairs investigation later concluded Fortson made no hostile or attacking movements before Duran opened fire. Sheriff Eric Aden subsequently terminated Duran, stating that the use of deadly force was not objectively reasonable and violated agency policy.
Following a criminal investigation by the Florida Department of Law Enforcement, Duran was arrested and charged with manslaughter with a firearm. Prosecutors alleged the shooting was unlawful, while Duran has maintained that he believed his life was in danger.
During Duran's 2026 immunity hearing, several significant new facts emerged. Fortson's girlfriend testified they were not arguing before deputies arrived and that there was no domestic violence taking place inside the apartment. She stated Fortson could not see anyone through the peephole because Duran had positioned himself to the side of the doorway and that Fortson armed himself only after repeated unanswered knocking from an unidentified person. A responding deputy also testified that after Fortson was shot, he kicked Fortson's handgun away and that Fortson never reached for the weapon after being wounded.
Duran also testified during the hearing that he intentionally did not identify himself on his initial knock because he wanted to observe the reaction inside the apartment. He told the court he believed he was about to be shot when Fortson opened the door. Prosecutors challenged that account and argued the evidence did not support the use of deadly force. The immunity hearing remains part of the ongoing criminal proceedings to determine whether Duran is entitled to immunity or will stand trial on the manslaughter charge.

SOURCE LINKS :

https://www.fox10tv.com/2026/08/03/testimony-reveals-new-details-leading-senior-airmans-death-former-deputy-seeks-have-case-dismissed/
https://www.fox10tv.com/2026/08/04/im-dead-im-about-be-shot-eddie-duran-testifies-during-day-two-hearing-dismiss-charges/
https://www.wjhg.com/2026/08/03/testimony-reveals-new-details-leading-senior-airmans-death-former-deputy-seeks-have-case-dismissed/
https://www.sheriff-okaloosa.org/okaloosa-county-sheriffs-office-releases-administrative-internal-affairs-investigation-into-the-fatal-deputy-involved-shooting-of-roger-fortson-2/
https://www.cbsnews.com/news/roger-fortson-death-florida-sheriffs-deputy-eddie-duran-arrested/
https://abcnews.go.com/US/former-deputy-granted-100000-bond-court-hearing-fatal/story?id=113240565
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BWC:
://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QQeSnL3ncxE