The family of a U.S. airman who was by a Florida sheriff鈥檚 deputy inside his own home in 2024 filed a federal civil rights lawsuit Tuesday over his killing.
The complaint filed in a Pensacola courthouse alleges that used excessive and unconstitutional deadly force when he shot just seconds after the Black 23-year-old opened his apartment door on May 3, 2024. Duran identifies as Hispanic, according to his voter registration.
Fortson鈥檚 family is represented by , a civil rights attorney who has been involved in a number of cases involving law enforcement killings of Black people, including those of , , and .
Duran has pleaded not guilty to a charge of .
The complaint also details alleged failures by the Okaloosa County Sheriff鈥檚 Office in training and supervision and claims that staff at the apartment complex where Fortson lived provided misleading information that led to the fatal law enforcement response.
Duran came to Fortson's door in Fort Walton Beach in response to a report of a physical fight inside an apartment. as the location of a loud argument, according to sheriff鈥檚 investigators.
Fortson, who was assigned to the 4th Special Operations Squadron at Hurlburt Field, was alone at the time, talking with his girlfriend on a FaceTime video call.
showed .
The deputy pounded at the door repeatedly and yelled, 鈥淪heriff鈥檚 office 鈥� open the door!鈥� Fortson opened the door with his legally purchased gun in his right hand, pointed to the ground.
The deputy said, 鈥淪tep back,鈥� then immediately . Fortson fell backward onto the floor. Only then did the deputy yell, 鈥淒rop the gun!鈥�
Deputies had never been called to Fortson鈥檚 apartment before, 911 records show, but they had been called to a nearby unit 10 times in the previous eight months, including once for a domestic disturbance.
The fatal shooting , and occurred against a wider backdrop of increased attention by the military to
It is highly unusual for Florida law enforcement officers to be charged for an on-duty killing. Convictions in such cases are even rarer.
___ Kate Payne is a corps member for The Associated Press/Report for America Statehouse 51暗网 Initiative. is a nonprofit national service program that places journalists in local newsrooms to report on undercovered issues.
Kate Payne, The Associated Press
