Video footage shows the moment Alabama cops shot dead a man while helping a tow truck driver repossess a vehicle, in what the victim’s family called an ‘ambush.’

Steve Perkins, 39, was reportedly given less than seconds to respond to officers before he was gunned down on September 29 at his home in Decatur, Alabama, a town 30 miles southwest of Huntsville.

The confrontation began with a tow truck driver trying to repossess Perkins’ truck in the middle of the night. 

In home surveillance footage, Perkins can be heard saying, ‘Hey, give me my truck back!’

The accompanying officers could be heard responding:  ‘Hey, hey, police! Get on the ground! according to video published by WAFF. 

Police did not wait more than a fraction of a second before they pulled the trigger – shooting more than a dozen rounds at Perkins in less than five seconds. 

Steve Perkins, 39, (pictured with his family) was shot dead by cops helping a tow truck driver repossess a vehicle from his home at Decatur, Alabama on September 29

Perkins, 39, was given less than seconds to respond to officers before they opened fire, unleashing more than a dozen rounds

According to police, the tow truck driver reported that Perkins was armed and flashed a gun, so officers accompanied him when he returned to the home.

The Alabama Law Enforcement Agency said Perkins had a handgun with a light on it. 

The Decatur Police Department said Perkins ‘turned the gun toward one of the officers,’ and they shot him. 

Lee Merritt, the attorney representing Perkins, said officers did not give Perkins enough time to respond before they opened fire. 

Merritt said officers accompanied the tow truck driver onto the property without announcing themselves and opened fire within a second of telling Perkins to get on the ground. 

He said Perkins did not seem to be aware of the presence of police. 

‘They jumped up. They shouted. … Pow,’ Merritt told The Associated Press.

‘The policy of not announcing yourself and creeping up into people’s onto people’s properties. 

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‘They will tell you it’s for officer protection, so that they’re not ambushed, but what they did here was ambush Steve.’

Perkins’ family (pictured with wife Catrela Perkins) said his truck was not in repossession, which is why he went outside to dispute the tow

Police said the tow truck driver reported that Perkins was armed and flashed a gun, so officers accompanied him when he returned to the home. 

In a statement, Perkins’ family said his truck was not in repossession, which is why he was disputing the tow

Perkins’ family said his truck was not in repossession, which is why he was disputing the tow.

City and state officials asked for patience during the investigation, which the ALEA vowed would be ‘very thorough and methodical.’ 

The agency said the findings will be turned over to the Morgan County District Attorney’s Office.

Protests have taken place daily in the north Alabama city since the shooting, with hundreds of people gathering outside of Decatur City Hall on Thursday night in a vigil for Perkins. 

‘The thing that has been consistent is looking for answers. We understand that. That is something everyone wants and they want answers now. Unfortunately, we don’t have control of that,’ Decatur Mayor Tab Bowling told news outlets. 

Protests have taken place daily in the north Alabama city since the shooting

Hundreds of people gather outside of Decatur City Hall on Thursday night in a vigil 

People march along Lee Street in downtown Decatur, Ala., Friday, Oct. 6, 2023, during a protest against the killing of Steve Perkins by police a week earlier 

‘Not only was I his brother, but I was his friend. You have no idea how it feels to be born a protector, and the job is taken away from you, unjustly, and unwarranted,’ Nicholas Perkins said during the vigil, according to WAFF.

‘From the immediate footage that we’re seeing, it looked like an ambush of him not even knowing who was in his yard,’ family spokesperson Brenton Lipscomb old NBC News on Monday.

‘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.’

Representatives of the Decatur Police Department and the Alabama Law Enforcement Agency (ALEA) did not provide any additional information.