A Florida jury on Friday acquitted a former sheriff’s deputy of manslaughter in the 2024 killing of a U.S. Air Force senior airman who answered his apartment door holding a handgun pointed to the ground.
The deputy, Eddie Duran, 40, who served with the Okaloosa County Sheriff’s Office in northwest Florida, had been charged with one count of manslaughter with a firearm. The man killed, Roger Fortson, was 23.
“We respect the jury’s verdict and thank the jurors for their service,” State Attorney Ginger Bowden Madden said in a statement on Thursday. “Our prosecutors brought this case because, after a thorough review, we believed the evidence warranted presentation to a jury.”
The shooting took place on May 3, 2024, in Fort Walton Beach, Fla., about 10 miles west of Destin. Mr. Duran had been sent to Mr. Fortson’s apartment complex in response to a report of a domestic disturbance, a report that was later determined to be false.
Body camera footage, which was publicly released by the sheriff’s office, showed Mr. Duran first knocked without identifying himself. He knocked again, announced himself and stepped away from the door. Seconds later, he moved to the other side of doorway, knocked and announced himself a third time.
When Airman Fortson opened the door, holding in his right hand a gun that was pointed at the floor, Mr. Duran fired immediately. Only after Airman Fortson collapsed did the deputy shout, “Drop the gun!”
The airman, who was a legal gun owner, died from his injuries.
The sheriff’s office fired Mr. Duran in 2024 after an internal investigation concluded that his use of force “was not objectively reasonable.” The manslaughter case was a rare instance of a law enforcement officer’s facing prosecution over a shooting in the Florida Panhandle, prosecutors said at the time.
Airman Fortson’s family had supported the criminal prosecution and, speaking through their lawyer, Ben Crump, questioned why Mr. Duran fired without first ordering Airman Fortson to drop his weapon.
Lawyers for Airman Fortson’s family and Mr. Duran did not immediately respond to requests for comment on Saturday. Mr. Duran also did not immediately respond.
Kirsten Noyes contributed research.
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