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.
Andre Fortson, the 16-year-old brother of Senior Airman Roger Fortson, was killed this week in DeKalb County, near Atlanta’s east side, according to DeKalb County police.
“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.
Lili Fortson / Facebook
“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.”
Andre Fortson was found shot to death Police say the shooting happened in a ventilated area of an apartment building on Tuesday, when DeKalb County police say two groups of people were shooting at each other for an unknown reason.
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.
The killing came nearly three months after Okaloosa County Sheriff’s Deputy Eddie Duran killed Roger Fortson, 23, in Fort Walton Beach, Florida, on May 3. The airman opened his apartment door with a handgun pointed at the floor and was killed within seconds. In body camera footage.
Lili Fortson / Facebook
Okaloosa County Sheriff Eric Aden fired Deputy Duran, saying his life was never in danger and that he should not have fired.
The sheriff’s office’s internal investigation 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.”
Crump has asked state prosecutors to file criminal charges against Duran.
AP
“This tragic incident should never have happened, and we must ensure that reckless behavior like this is met with consequences,” Crump said in a statement. “The family of Roger Fortson deserves justice, and our community deserves accountability.”
The State Attorney’s Office did not immediately comment on the shooting investigation.
The Fortson family is from DeKalb County, where Andre Fortson was murdered. Weeks after the Florida killing, Andre Fortson stood on stage with his mother and sisters at a tearful news conference.
They wore red shirts with the words “WE ALL WE GOT” on the front and a picture of Roger Fortson in military uniform on the back.
Roger Fortson was stationed at the Air Force’s Hurlburt Field in the Florida Panhandle.
At his funeral outside Atlanta, hundreds of airmen in full uniform filed past his casket, draped with the American flag.
