Authorities arrest former sheriff’s deputy who fatally shot black airman in his home

A former Florida sheriff’s deputy accused of killing a black U.S. Air Force soldier who opened the door to his apartment while holding a gun pointed at the bottom was arrested Monday, officials said.

Former Okaloosa County Sheriff’s Deputy Eddie Duran, 38, has been charged with murder with a firearm in the May 3 shooting death of 23-year-old Roger Fortson, Assistant State’s Attorney Greg Marcille said Friday. The charge is a first-degree felony punishable by as much as 30 years in prison.

Duran was arrested Monday on the county jail, records show. Marcille confirmed his arrest to The Associated Press.

“He did turn himself in,” Marcille said in a telephone interview, adding that Duran’s first court appearance might be via video link Tuesday morning. “He will be held in custody pending his first appearance.”

A lawyer representing Duran didn’t immediately reply to an email in search of comment.

Authorities say Duran was dispatched to Fortson’s Fort Walton Beach apartment in response to a domestic disturbance report that turned out to be false.

Featured Stories

After knocking repeatedly, Fortson opened the door with the gun at his side, pointed down. Authorities say Duran shot him multiple times before telling Fortson to place the gun down.

On Friday, the day he was charged, candles and framed photos of Fortson in uniform were placed on the door of the apartment where he was murdered.

According to an internal affairs report into the shooting, 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.”

Okaloosa Sheriff Eric Aden fired Duran on May 31 after an internal investigation found his life was not in danger when he opened fire. Outside law enforcement experts also said an officer cannot shoot simply because a possible suspect is holding a gun if there is no such thing as a threat.

Duran is a law enforcement veteran who began as a military police officer in the Army. He joined the Okaloosa County Sheriff’s Office in July 2019 but resigned two years later, saying his wife, a nurse, had been transferred to a naval hospital outside the realm. He returned to the sheriff’s office in June 2023.

Okaloosa personnel records show he was reprimanded in 2021 for failing to finish a task of confirming the addresses of three registered sex offenders by visiting their homes and telling a classmate he didn’t care. Then assigned to a highschool as an on-campus substitute, he was also reprimanded for leaving school before the ultimate bell rang and students were released. Florida law requires an armed guard to be on campus during classes.

911 call records show officers had never been called to Fortson’s apartment before, but they’d been called to a close-by residence 10 times in the past eight months, including once for a domestic disturbance.