Photo: Getty Images
New details have emerged about the death of a Black man who was shot by police while his vehicle was being repossessed outside of his house in Alabama.
Steve Perkins, 39, was fatally shot on September 29 after officials said he “brandished a handgun” with a light “towards an officer with the Decatur Police Department," according to the Alabama Law Enforcement Agency.
However, neighbor security footage shows Perkins was possibly unarmed and "ambushed" by police, family spokesperson Brenton Lipscomb told NBC News on Monday (October 9).
In the footage, a man could be heard saying "Hey, give me my truck back!" Another man then yelled "Hey, hey, police! Get on the ground!"
Gunfire could be heard roughly a fraction of a second after the word "ground." More than a dozen rounds appeared to be fired within 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," Lipscomb told NBC News. "They were in uniform, but it's a very dark neighborhood. No police cars were in front of the house, they were parked down the street, hiding in neighborhoods' yards, hiding around the house."
Before the shooting unfolded, a tow truck driver tried to take Perkins' vehicle for repossession but was turned back. He returned back to his home with police when the deadly incident occurred.
Perkins' family said he had fallen behind on payments, but his truck hadn't been put in repossession status.
The Alabama Law Enforcement Agency is continuing to investigate the incident.
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