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Body of US airman killed by Florida deputy returns to Atlanta aboard honor flight

Senior Airman Roger Fortson's body arrived at Hartsfield-Jackson Atlanta International Airport around 4 p.m. Tuesday.

ATLANTA — The body of a metro Atlanta airman who was killed by a Florida deputy earlier this month returned home.

U.S. Senior Airman Roger Fortson's body arrived at Hartsfield-Jackson Atlanta International Airport around 4 p.m. Tuesday aboard an honor flight. His casket was pulled from the plane draped with an American flag. 

The U. S. service member was fatally shot on May 3 in Florida by an Okaloosa County Sheriff's Office deputy at an apartment. According to the sheriff's office, a deputy responding to a call about a disturbance in progress "reacted in self-defense after he encountered a 23-year-old man armed with a gun." 

Bodycam video shows the encounter between Fortson and the deputy. In the video, the deputy identifies himself and commands Fortson to step back upon opening the door, followed swiftly by gunfire. Fortson, seen with a firearm at his side, was shot by the deputy and killed. The family attorney asserted that Fortson legally possessed the firearm found at the scene. 

RELATED: Airman shot by deputy doted on little sister and aimed to buy mom a house, family says

Credit: AP
FILE - This photo provided by the U.S. Air Force, shows Senior Airman Roger Fortson in a Dec. 24, 2019, photo. (U.S. Air Force via AP, File)

Cell phone video obtained by Fortson's family also captures audio of the encounter. Attorneys said he was on a FaceTime call with a woman when the deputy arrived; the person on the other end recorded the encounter.

Family attorneys said Fortson was from Atlanta and graduated from McNair High School in DeKalb County. Following graduation, Fortson enlisted in the Air Force, where he was based at the Special Operations Wing at Hurlburt Field -- right near Fort Walton Beach.

Family and friends gathered for a vigil Friday in honor of the airman. Some wore red shirts, his favorite color, that read "We all we got" on the front and a picture of the 23-year-old on the back

This story continues below the gallery.

RELATED: 'Nobody had the right to take him' | Metro Atlanta family holds vigil to grieve US airman killed by Florida deputy

"I’ll never hear his voice again," his mother, Chantemekki Fortson, said at the vigil. "Y'all don't know the pain that I have. I keep putting my hand on my chest because I can’t feel my heart beat. Ain’t nothing in this world will be able to bring my child back.”

The funeral will be held Friday, May 17, at 11 a.m. at New Birth Missionary Baptist Church

Material from the Associated Press contributed to this report.

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