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A family is seeking answers after an Alabama man was fatally shot by police outside of his home while his vehicle was being repossessed.
Steve Perkins, 39, was shot last week after officials said he “brandished a handgun” with a light “towards an officer with the Decatur Police Department," the Alabama Law Enforcement Agency said in a statement to CNN. Perkins was taken to a hospital, where he later died, according to the department.
Decatur police were initially called to Perkins' home after he allegedly pulled a handgun on a tow truck driver as he was attempting to repossess a vehicle at the 39-year-old's home.
Officers arrived at the scene with the tow truck driver, which is when Perkins “exited the residence armed with a handgun and began to threaten the tow truck driver,” according to police.
“Officers on scene ordered the homeowner to drop his weapon, which he refused to do. It was at this time the homeowner turned the gun towards one of the Officers on scene. The Officer discharged his duty weapon, striking the subject,” Decatur police claimed.
Nicholas Perkins, the victim's brother, said the family is seeking more information and answers because they really “don’t know what happened.”
“This has always been his biggest fear, being shot and killed by police. Just being a Black man in America, it was his fear,” the brother said. “This is a very hard loss; he was such a likeable guy. He had no enemies.”
Perkins' family argued that the 39-year-old didn't owe money on his car, citing that they had “found financial receipts proving” he wasn't at risk of “being in an active status of repossession” and that “monthly payments were processed through his financing company.”
“The Towing Company and City of Decatur Police Department wrongfully appeared at (his) home,” the family said in a statement.
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