Posted on 05/15/2024 4:14:31 AM PDT by marktwain
At about 4:28 p.m., on May 3rd, 2024, in Okaloosa County, Florida, an Okaloosa Deputy Sheriff responded to a domestic violence call from an apartment complex. A few minutes later, the Deputy shot and killed Senior Airman Roger Fortson after Fortson opened his apartment door in response to the Deputy’s demands.
The incident has gone viral. Fortson’s family has hired controversial lawyer Ben Crump. Crump has made statements the shooting was at the wrong apartment, and Fortson was shot as he walked away from the door, and deputies burst into the apartment. From news4sanantonio.com:
Crump wrote that Fortson grabbed his “legally-owned” gun and was shot as he was walking back to the living room, as deputies burst through the door.
A woman at the complex directed the Deputy Sheriff to apartment 1401 based on information she had received from another woman. The Deputy called for backup and told the woman to direct the backup to him when they arrived. The Deputy proceeded to the apartment. He listened for several seconds at the apartment, then knocked on the door. Then he moved out of the vulnerable area in front of the door and out of the view of the peephole. Then he knocked again while out of view of the peephole. From inside the apartment, a garbled phrase can be heard, of a few words. The only distinguishable word was “police”.
The deputy moves in front of the door, knocks loudly, and announces himself. He demands the door be opened. He knocks again, loudly announcing himself and demanding the door be opened. The door is opened partially. The deputy commands: step back.
(Excerpt) Read more at ammoland.com ...
Seems like a cop on an adrenaline high reacted to the sight of a gun.
Too bad that there is not money for simulation training cops for these situations.
I wonder if a huge lawsuit is in the future?
With Ben Crump involved?
That’s the only reason he ever gets near things like this
Shoot/Don’t Shoot training was provided by the City’s insurance carrier in the city where I was the City Manager. It was mandatory as part of their coverage.
Yep.
Poor training on several counts.
First, wait for backup. The deputy had already requested backup, but chose to move ahead without waiting.
Second, no threat assessment. Did the deputy already have his own gun drawn? It doesn’t appear so.
Third, five shots, three of them after the subject was down? I understand the stress (former LEO, myself), but...
I don’t think looks good for the deputy.
How frequent was the retraining?
One and done is not effective.
Outside agency investigation is mandated in Florida.
Woo. That’s a tough one. Cop had his weapon drawn. Door opened. Suspect had the gun in his hand but down at his side. Is there a presumption of guilt if you open the door with a gun? It was less than 2 seconds and the deputy opened fire. I’m not trained for this sort of thing, but that seems exceptionally short to make an assessment and decide to use lethal force. Any tac training I’ve taken you issue verbal commands until the threat is imminent. I guess a weapon at the side is imminent?
“Is there a presumption of guilt if you open the door with a gun?”
YES... ABSOLUTELY... Anything that EVEN LOOKS LIKE A GUN in your hand is guilty and an immediate death sentence.
This happened down the street from my house................
This deputy is in deep doo-doo..................
This is the same Sheriff’s Department that a deputy unloaded his weapon into his cruiser with prisoner inside because he heard an acorn fall on the hood and thought it was gunfire................. That deputy was fired.............
Suspect ? Suspected of what ? Donut Cop says: Die !!
This is a good example of why you shouldn’t have a firearm in your hands or even visible when opening the door for law enforcement.
“””””Door opened. Suspect had the gun in his hand but down at his side. Is there a presumption of guilt if you open the door with a gun? It was less than 2 seconds and the deputy opened fire. I’m not trained for this sort of thing, but that seems exceptionally short to make an assessment and decide to use lethal force.”””””
In that situation the burden of risk is on the cop knocking on a door, not the homeowner.
Cops have to have it explained to them that they have to endure risk in the job, they cannot just kill any and all possible risks that they see during their shifts or when they walk into our homes and at our backyard BBQs.
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