According to a spokesman for his loved ones, Steve Perkins, 39, didn’t have time to reply to an officer’s directive before being tragically shot at his Decatur home.
On Sept. 29, security footage from neighbors captured some of the sights and sounds of officers approaching Steve Perkins, 39, at his home in Decatur, some 30 miles southwest of Huntsville.
A man can be heard saying, “Hey, give me my truck back!” in a video shared by Perkins’ family.
Another male voice could then be heard saying, “Hey, hey, cops!” “Get down on the ground!”
There was just a fraction of a second between the term “ground” and the sound of gunfire, with more than a dozen rounds likely fired in less than four seconds.
“From the immediate footage that we’re seeing, it looked like an ambush of him not even knowing who was in his yard,” said family spokesperson Brenton Lipscomb to NBC News on Monday.
“They were dressed in uniform, but this is a very dark neighborhood.” There were no police cars in front of the house; instead, they were parked down the street, hiding in yards, and hovering about the house.”
On Monday, the Decatur Police Department and the Alabama Law Enforcement Agency (ALEA) could not be reached for comment to confirm the tape’s legitimacy.
However, according to state law enforcement, Perkins “was discovered to be armed with a handgun that was also equipped with a light” and “brandished the weapon towards an officer with the Decatur Police Department, causing the officer to fire at Perkins.”
ALEA has pledged a “very thorough and methodical investigation” into the present probe.
According to the family, Perkins had fallen behind on his car payments, but it had not been repossessed.
Earlier in the evening, a repo worker tried to seize Perkins’ car but was refused. According to the family, he returned to the house, but this time with police.
A spokeswoman for the towing company that attempted the repossession could not be reached for comment on Monday.
Perkins was married with two children, 14 and 7, and worked for J.M. Smucker, a pet food manufacturer.
Lipscomb said that the man had no prior interactions with law enforcement other than a DUI incident more than a decade ago.
