Looks like the officer was arrested and charged with murder.

He'd better take a Manslaughter plea if it is offered. It sounds to me, and I don't know but just a few details, he did a lot of reckless things.

As well he should be. I back the blue 100% if they’re not wrong. These cops screwed a bunch of stuff up and tried covering it up. Decatur police as a whole needs a revamp. Plenty of folks growing up claimed Decatur cops planted stuff on them in traffic stops. There’s got to be some fire with all that smoke

I still think we are being lied to. were'nt we told that steve perkins didn't even have a gun he only had a flashlight. and now they arrest a cop for not saying drop the gun before he shot. Oh and I thought that the tow truck driver was at the wrong house, but yet it took the family two months to get the truck back. yall can believe the media, but I think it's just cowardly charging this cop. Steve Perkins was a good man, but if you go waving a gun around at people and threatening to kill people doing their job, then you won't live too long. the cops that shot the new market school janitor at the wrong house got off scott free, but he did fit folks BLMatters profile.

The security cam footage from the neighbors house looked pretty bad for the cops.

of course, they show a video clip of 2 seconds before shots are fired in the dark grainy video, while the news story is that the tow truck driver had the wrong house and the guy never had a gun. looks pretty convincing till you realize that alone that the video doesn't show anything other than words were said and shots were fired.

It says a lot that the DA has now offered to let the family view the body cam footage but refuses to release it to the public. That tells me that the video has to be pretty damning to the ex-officer. The cops had zero business getting involved in the way that they did and especially allowing the tow truck driver to go back with them. Our tax dollars aren't meant to be escorts for repo men

Exactly

And there's more than one video out. I found one video that showed more and it's not looking good for the police. Those cops ambushed the homeowner, began firing before they announced themselves and they hid instead of pulling up in view with the repo man. The homeowner never knew who they were. Looks like they ran up behind him and shot him as he turned around..All this could have been avoided if the police would have done a normal thing and pulled up with the repo man in view. Reading the comment section, there's multiple people saying this cop had always bad news and that the repo man was buddies with him and that's why he was called there. Looking at the cops mugshot having a smirk on his face, I'm inclined to believe it.

Barney Fife could have done a better job. And I'm still not sure if the homeowner ever had a gun. At the end of the day, the cops ran up behind him and yelled hey hey instead of making their presence known then they got half of the police word out while they fired about 15 shots. They didn't use flashlights either. Usually cops shine a light and announce. Reminded me of a bunch of kids with zero experience that had zero business in that line of work. Y'all should go see the smirk on the cops mugshot picture. And his 30k bond is a joke. Dude In Huntsville just got busted for weed and his bond is 1.5 million dollars.

Police need to be held accountable. Having said that, theres no way id have that job.

Video

It doesn’t look good, looks like the officers set up to ambush the guy.


https://whnt.com/news/decatur/steph...to-position-shooting-of-stephen-perkins/

Remorseful officer mug shot.

Looks like more of a nervous laugh scenario to me

If the tow truck driver showed up at the wrong house why didn’t Perkins call and report it to police?

I know the 911 would’ve gotten a call from me in the same scenario

Also that video is clear as mud
I’m not saying the cops didn’t do anything wrong but I’m also not saying they did wrong

What was handled wrong was Decatur not getting ahead of the story. Whether the Leo’s were in the wrong or right these days you still gotta get ahead of it.

To be honest I can’t say I wouldn’t have done the same thing he did. If someone backs up to my truck in the middle of the night I’m probably going out there armed and find out what the heck is going on. Police should not have been hiding around the corner and ambushing the guy. If they had history with the guy or if the tow truck driver had history with the guy then the police should have been at his front door and not hiding in the shadows. It straight up looks like an ambush and all involved need to be charged with accessory.

They should have knocked on his door and told him his truck was being repossessed. My biggest issue is them hiding in the shadows and rushing the guy. 7 seconds from him coming out til shots fired, damn.

It was reported Perkins pulled a gun on the tow truck guy earlier.

Honestly it looks like numerous bad decisions were made that night.

Also bear in mind a tow truck driver was killed not to long after this incident

The video is actually crystal clear.

There CANNOT be a breach of the peace during a repossession. This means that if the property owner pulls a gun then the repo driver MUST leave. There are legal ways to go about repossession of a vehicle where the Sheriff actually goes out and takes possession of the vehicle, he has a court order from a judge when he does this.

Vehicle repossessions are CIVIL MATTERS and are not to be assisted by local law enforcement.

Why did the cops park their vehicles out of sight and sneak across adjoining properties in the dark?

If a tow truck driver called 911 and said “someone pulled a gun on me…”

IF the homeowner pulled a gun on the repo man, that was not illegal.

Legally, the repo guy was obligated to leave the property at that point.

The repo guy WAS NOT ENTITLED TO RETURN TO THE PROPERTY WITH LAW ENFORCEMENT.

Why didn’t the officers arrive in the driveway with blue lights on? Because if they had the homeowner was entitled to say “you all get the phuck off of my property” and they would have been forced to leave WITHOUT the homeowner’s vehicle. What they did WAS NOT LEGAL. It was underhanded and sneaky and an innocent man is DEAD.
Hence the murder charge against the officer that killed the man and the termination of the other two officers. Yes, the video is CRYSTAL CLEAR.

Wow I support law enforcement and was raised that way. Did none of these officers have enough sense to announce their presence? This is cops a bad name. Any way you look at it a this just doesn’t look professional. Looks more home invasion than law enforcement

Sad thing is the guy that got murdered didn’t even own a gun and wasn’t behind on his truck at all. Cops screwed up on this one

He did leave correct

They did come back and according to what you’re saying they shouldn’t have. I never said nothing about that except I would have called 911 if some guy had pulled up and tried to hook to my truck. Then again if it was a legit repo I wouldn’t call. They do know when it’s time. I’ve watched repo truck work across the street from my house. Heck the drug dealer next door used to hide vehicles behind his house when it was time. He gone now thank goodness.

The video is not clear maybe it is to you but the only thing I can absolutely identify is the tow truck backing in. Without the diagrams of who Id not know who was who. Then there was the yelling there’s the gun.
If you go back to the original post when it happened I asked why no lights and sirens on? I was told that was protocol on that type call.

Like I said. Looks like a bunch of bad decisions from all coming to head. I hate he lost his life because everyone says he as great guy.

When I was a photographer I had to photograph numerous lawsuit cases and a few crime scenes.
A lawyer hired me to photograph a scene where a young guy was killed by entering a house looking for drugs. The drug dealer killed him saying he was surprised by young guy. I was asked to photograph in total darkness what the drug dealer would have seen. I said nothing will show up on film like you want. He paid me to do so anyways. Digital would’ve allowed for a better representation but still does not show exactly what the human eye sees. There is bias no matter what.

Actually, it is.

And if you shoot someone stealing/towing your car out of your driveway, you're going to prison.

I can have a weapon in my hand for whatever reason I choose when I’m at my home. If I hear someone in my yard I can investigate with said firearm in my hand. Not illegal.