The teenage brother of a U.S. Air Force soldier who was shot to death by a Florida sheriff’s deputy in his home in May has been killed in a shooting in the Atlanta area, police said.
In an update on the homicide, DeKalb County police said Andre Fortson, the 16-year-old brother of Senior Airman Roger Fortson, was killed this week in DeKalb County, near Atlanta’s east side.
“The Fortson family is grappling with the grief of losing yet another young member,” said civil rights attorney Ben Crump, who has represented the family since Roger Fortson was killed.
Hundreds attend funeral of Air Force soldier Roger Fortson, killed by Florida sheriff in his home
“The loss of Roger has been an incredibly difficult time for our family,” Crump said in a statement. “The loss of another young family member, just one child, is truly heartbreaking.”
Police said Andre Fortson was found shot to death in an apartment hallway on Tuesday after two groups of people were exchanging gunfire with each other for unknown reasons, according to DeKalb County police.
A 20-year-old man was identified as one of the shooters and arrested on suspicion of aggravated assault, police said. He was booked into the DeKalb County Jail. Jail records did not list an attorney available for comment on his behalf.
Shante Mekki Fortson, mother of slain Airman Roger Fortson (right), watches Fortson’s casket as it is carried to the cemetery with family members during a funeral service at New Birth Missionary Baptist Church in Stonecrest, Georgia, May 17, 2024. (AP Photo/Bryn Anderson, File)
The killing came about three months after Okaloosa County Sheriff’s Deputy Eddie Duran killed Roger Fortson, 23, at an apartment in Fort Walton Beach, Florida, on May 3. The airman opened the door with his handgun pointed at the floor and was killed within seconds, according to body camera footage.
Okaloosa County Sheriff Eric Aden fired Deputy Duran, saying his life was never in danger and that he should not have fired.
An internal investigation by the sheriff’s office found that Fortson “did not make any hostile or aggressive moves and therefore the former deputy’s use of deadly force was not objectively reasonable.”
Click here to get the FOX News app
The Fortson family is from DeKalb County, where Andre Fortson was murdered. At a tearful press conference a few weeks after the Florida killing, Andre Fortson stood on stage with his mother and sisters, wearing red shirts with the words “WE ALL WE GOT” on the front and a picture of Roger Fortson in his military uniform on the back.
Roger Fortson was stationed at Hurlburt Air Force Base in southern Florida, and at his funeral outside Atlanta, hundreds of Air Force personnel in full dress filed past his casket, draped with the American flag.
