Home security video shows a repo truck recklessly towing an Alabama man’s truck as he lay dead in his front yard after being shot by a police officer.
Steve Perkins, 39, was killed by an officer on Sept. 29 outside his Decatur home after a tow truck driver who arrived to retrieve his truck told police he had threatened him with a gun, according to the Decatur Daily.
Police said that Perkins, a black man, also pointed a gun at the officer, who reportedly fired 18 shots at the man, hitting him seven times.
The shooting happened after Perkins came out of his home at night with a flashlight, security footage shows. Police and the driver said he had attached a gun to a flashlight, a claim that could not be confirmed by watching the footage.
On Nov. 4, new home security footage from a neighbor across the street surfaced showing Perkins’ truck being pulled over by accident as he fought for his life, riddled with gunfire on his own property.
In the clip, Perkins is lying on the ground as two people who appear to be police officers stand over him and pat him down.
Perkins, 39, was shot after police say he pointed a gun at officers and a tow truck driver.Facebook/Clay Perkins
A spokesman for Perkins’ family said he was “ambushed” by police, who gave him less than a split second to comply with orders to get on the ground before opening fire, doorbell camera video showed.
“From the immediate footage we’ve seen, it looks like an ambush on him without knowing who was in his yard,” family spokesman Brenton Lipscomb told NBC News on Monday.
“They were in uniform, but it was a very dark neighborhood. There are no police cars in front of the house, they are parked on the side of the road, hiding in the neighborhood, hiding around the house.”
Susan Capps, 62, who lives across the street from the Perkins residence and one house next door, complied with a state subpoena to release the recordings from her security system.
Perkins family members attended the vigil outside Decatur, Ala. City Hall. on Tuesday, Oct. 10, two weeks after he was shot dead by police.AP
“I was standing outside the whole time, and I saw them patting him. I didn’t see them giving any first aid,” he told a local outlet. “All I kept hearing was ‘put the gun down, put the gun down,’ and Perkins was on the ground.
“I saw him move his hand a little bit, and I heard him say, ‘Please.’ I saw his arm go up toward his head, and then I didn’t see him move anymore,” Capps said.
“And then I heard an officer call and say he ‘needs an ambulance IMMEDIATELY,’ and then a little later I heard him say ‘he’s out,'” Capps continued, adding that the ambulance was “in no rush” to arrive.
The neighbor also said that when he called a police officer to his porch after the shooting and asked them if Perkins was OK, they lied and said “he’s fine.”
A spokesman for the Perkins family said he was “ambushed” by police.Family Circulation
Decatur police spokeswoman Irene Cardenas-Martinez reportedly disputed Capps’ account of the gunshot wound and said officers administered first aid.
“Officers at the scene provided medical assistance to Mr. Perkins before he was taken to hospital,” he said.
“One officer retrieved a medical package and began assessing his injuries while another officer applied pressure to the wound and applied a tourniquet to one of his legs before medics arrived.”
Perkins was remembered by Capps as a “good guy” who was always “looking out” for her.
“He helped me in so many ways,” Capps said. “I fell out on the front lawn because of my diabetes; he came running and picked me up like I didn’t weigh a feather.
Federal civil rights attorney Lee Merritt speaks during a vigil for Stephen Perkins outside Decatur, Ala. City Hall.AP
“One time he took me to urgent care because I fell and hit my head, and I tried to get in a truck to drive myself there and he knew something was wrong.”
Perkins works for pet food manufacturer JM Smucker, and is married with two teenage children, according to NBC.
He has no prior record other than a DUI arrest more than a decade ago, the network said.
The shooting happened after Perkins came out of his home at night with a flashlight, security footage shows. WAFF48
His family described him as a “family-oriented young black man who thrived on excellence,” and disputed the fact that his truck was targeted for repossess, suggesting that the tow company and police “mistakenly” were at the home in the first place, according to WHNT-TV.
More than a month after the fatal shooting, Perkins’ white GMC Sierra was spotted in the lot of towing company Allstar Recovery, less than a mile from his home, the Decatur Daily reported.
It was isolated from the other vehicles in the lot and was barely visible from the road.
The unidentified officer who killed Perkins has been placed on leave amid an internal investigation that was reportedly completed last week.
The results of the investigation are confidential pending a pre-determination hearing to review possible policy violations.
A separate investigation that could result in criminal charges against the officer is underway by the Alabama Law Enforcement Agency.
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Source: thtrangdai.edu.vn/en/
