Hundreds pack funeral for Roger Fortson, the Black airman killed in his home by a Florida deputy

STONECREST, Ga. (AP) — Hundreds of Air Force members in dress blues joined Roger Fortson's family, friends and others at a suburban Atlanta megachurch on Friday to pay their final respects to the Black senior airman, who was shot and killed in his Florida home earlier this month by a sheriff's...

Lawyer for family of slain US Air Force airman says video and calls show deputy went to wrong home

STONECREST, Ga. (AP) — A lawyer for the family of Roger Fortson said Thursday that police radio traffic and the body camera footage of the Florida sheriff’s deputy who killed the Black U.S. Air Force airman reinforce their assertion that the deputy was directed to the wrong apartment while...

Experts say gun alone doesn't justify deadly force in fatal shooting of Florida airman

On the afternoon of May 3, Roger Fortson opened the door of his Florida apartment with a gun in his hand and was immediately shot six times by a sheriff’s deputy responding to a complaint about an argument. Fortson's supporters point to the deputy's rapid decision to open fire and...

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

FORT WALTON BEACH, Fla. (AP) — Just two days before a sheriff's deputy in Florida shot him dead, U.S. Air Force Senior Airman Roger Fortson called home to find out what his 10-year-old sister wanted for her birthday. It was a typical gesture for the 23-year-old from Atlanta, who...

Body camera video shows fatal shooting of Black airman by Florida deputy in apartment doorway

FORT WALTON BEACH, Fla. (AP) — A Florida sheriff released body camera video Thursday showing a deputy outside an apartment door and firing immediately when it was opened by a Black man carrying a handgun pointed downward, a killing the family denounced as “unjustifiable.” ...

US service member shot and killed by Florida police identified by the Air Force

FORT WALTON BEACH, Fla. (AP) — The U.S. Air Force said an airman based at the Special Operations Wing at Hurlburt Field, Florida, was shot and killed Friday during an incident involving a sheriff's deputy. Senior Airman Roger Fortson, 23, died at his off-base residence, the U.S....

Experimental F-16 fighter jet takes Air Force secretary on a history-making flight controlled by AI, not a human pilot

Yemen's Houthi rebels claim downing US Reaper drone, release footage showing wreckage of aircraft

JERUSALEM (AP) — Yemen's Houthi rebels on Saturday claimed shooting down another of the U.S. military's MQ-9 Reaper drones, airing footage of parts that corresponded to known pieces of the unmanned aircraft. The Houthis said they shot down the Reaper with a surface-to-air missile,...

US military veteran accused of having explicit images of a child apparently joined Russian army

BOSTON (AP) — A U.S. Air Force veteran who fled a charge of possessing sexually explicit images of a child told his lawyer he joined Russia’s army, and video appears to show him signing documents in a military enlistment office in Siberia. Wilmer Puello-Mota, a former elected...

AI-operated fighter jet will fly Air Force secretary in a test of military's future drone warplanes

WASHINGTON (AP) — The Air Force is betting a large part of its future air warfare on a fleet more than 1,000 autonomously operated drones, and later this spring its top civilian leader plans to climb into an artificial intelligence-operated warplane and let it take him airborne. ...