Judge denies bond for fired deputy in fatal shooting of Black airman

A judge denied bond on Tuesday for a fired deputy in the shooting of a Black U.S. Air Force senior airman who answered his apartment door while holding a gun pointed at the floor. Former Okaloosa County deputy Eddie Duran, 38, was charged with manslaughter with a firearm in the May 3 shooting death of 23-year-old Roger Fortson. The rare charge against a Florida law enforcement officer is a first-degree felony punishable by up to 30 years in prison.

Quick Read

• A judge denied bond for Eddie Duran, a fired Florida deputy, in the fatal shooting of Roger Fortson, a Black U.S. Air Force senior airman who was holding a gun pointed at the floor when he answered his apartment door.
• Duran, 38, faces a manslaughter charge with a firearm, a first-degree felony that carries up to 30 years in prison, for the May 3 shooting.
• Duran’s lawyer argued for his release before a pre-trial detention hearing on Thursday, asserting that Duran is not a flight risk.
• Duran was fired after an internal investigation determined that his life was not in danger when he opened fire, despite initial claims of self-defense.
• Fortson had been on a FaceTime call with his girlfriend during the encounter, and Duran’s body camera recorded the incident.
• Duran responded to a false domestic disturbance report at Fortson’s Fort Walton Beach apartment, where he shot Fortson multiple times after he opened the door with a gun at his side and only then told him to drop the weapon.
• The shooting has sparked renewed debate over Florida’s “Stand Your Ground” law and concerns about a “shoot first” mentality, particularly in cases involving Black victims.
• Fortson’s funeral was attended by hundreds of Air Force members, highlighting the significant impact of his death on his community and the broader discussion of police use of force.

The Associated Press has the story:

Judge denies bond for fired deputy in fatal shooting of Black airman

Newsloos-ks- FORT WALTON BEACH, Fla. (AP) —

A judge denied bond on Tuesday for a fired deputy in the shooting of a Black U.S. Air Force senior airman who answered his apartment door while holding a gun pointed at the floor. Former Okaloosa County deputy Eddie Duran, 38, was charged with manslaughter with a firearm in the May 3 shooting death of 23-year-old Roger Fortson. The rare charge against a Florida law enforcement officer is a first-degree felony punishable by up to 30 years in prison.

The judge ordered him held until a Thursday pre-trial detention hearing, despite objections from his lawyer, who said he should be released now. “They know he’s going to show up,” attorney Rod Smith said. “We believe that he’s no risk, no flight risk. He’s going to show up Thursday, he’s going to show up any time, he need not spend the time in the jail the next few days.”

The Okaloosa County Sheriff’s Office initially said Duran fired in self defense after encountering a man with a gun, but Sheriff Eric Aden fired Duran on May 31 after an internal investigation concluded his life was not in danger when he opened fire. Outside law enforcement experts have also said that an officer cannot shoot only because a possible suspect is holding a gun if there is no threat.

Fortson had been talking with his girlfriend in a FaceTime video call that recorded audio of the encounter, and Duran’s body camera video showed what happened. Duran had been sent to Fortson’s Fort Walton Beach apartment in response to a domestic disturbance report that turned out to be false. After repeated knocking, Fortson opened the door while holding his handgun at his side, pointed down. Authorities say that Duran shot him multiple times and only then did he tell Fortson to drop the gun.

According to the internal affairs report, Duran told investigators that when Fortson opened the door, he saw aggression in the airman’s eyes. He said he fired because, “I’m standing there thinking I’m about to get shot, I’m about to die.”

Weeks passed after the shooting before the sheriff released an incident report, 911 records or the officer’s identity, despite requests for the information under Florida’s open records act and pressure from the family’s attorney, civil rights lawyer Ben Crump.

The fatal shooting of the airman at his off-base apartment in the Florida Panhandle was one of a growing list of killings of Black people by law enforcement in their own homes as they’re going about their day. Fortson’s death also renewed debate over whether Florida’s “Stand Your Ground” law has fostered a “shoot first” climate of vigilantism in which gun owners operate with impunity in killing largely Black people. Hundreds of Air Force members in dress blues joined Fortson’s family, friends and others at his funeral in a suburban Atlanta megachurch.

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