Police in California have released video footage of a double amputee creeping up and knifing a man on the sidewalk, moments before he was shot and killed by cops.
Anthony Lowe Jr., a 36-year-old father-of-two, leaped out of his wheelchair at a gas station before stabbing a man in the torso, who was walking ahead of him in Huntington Park.
The victim ended up stumbling into a busy road in the moments after the attack, at which point the police were called to the scene.
The reason behind the attack is not yet clear, although Lowe’s family have revealed he suffered from depression.
Additional video footage shot from a gas station forecourt has been released in the case of Anthony Lowe, a double amputee who was shot and killed by police
It sees Lowe getting out of his wheelchair creeping up on a pedestrian from behind, only to stab him in the torso without warning, leaving him critically injured
The victim ended up stumbling into a busy road in the moments following the attack, and the police were called immediately after
Lowe’s family have expressed their disdain over the shooting, claiming that due to his disability, he posed no danger to the officers.
The family are now planning to file a lawsuit against the police department and are calling for the officers involved to be prosecuted.
Footage that was previously released saw Lowe walking with a knife in his hand, away from the police. The weapon has been described as a 12-inch butcher knife.
Three officers can then be seen trying to detain him as he hurriedly moved along the sidewalk.
At one point, Lowe turns towards the officers with their guns drawn, and raised the knife in what they perceived to be a threatening gesture or him possibly preparing to throw the object.
Three officers can then be seen trying to detain him as he hurriedly moved along the sidewalk on his stumps
At one point, Lowe turns towards the officers with their guns drawn, and raised the knife in what they perceived to be a threatening gesture or him possibly preparing to throw the object
Officers finally opened fire at Lowe as he raised the knife above his head in what was perceived to be a ‘threatening gesture’
It was at that point that the police officers shot and killed him.
Huntington Park Police Chief Cosme Lozano released the new footage a week and a half after the shooting, but declined to elaborate on the investigation.
‘I fully recognize the need for answers and the impulse to rush to judgment, but we must allow peace and patience to guide us through this process,’ Chief Lozano said during a press conference.
The LA County Sheriff’s department is leading the investigation into the officer-involved shooting.
So far it has been revealed how responding officers used a taser on Lowe twice, but it had no effect and he refused to drop the knife.
Lowe’s family insist there were alternative methods officers had at their disposal that could have used to subdue him without resorting to deadly force.
Police were called to the scene and found Lowe a few blocks wielding a 12-inch butcher’s knife. They claim he then tried to throw the knife at them
Lowe Jr. was carrying a 12-inch knife which he had just used to stab someone. After failing to subdue him with their Tasers, the officers said they feared he was going to throw the knife at them
Lowe turned and tried to hurry away from them, clutching a large butcher’s knife in one hand
Attorney Annee Della Donna, representing Lowe’s mother, suggested the officers could have used their vehicles to block him in, or used rubber bullets.
The attorney argues that there were many other options available to the officers besides shooting him in the street.
‘They could have pulled their shields out of their vehicles if they were worried about getting hit by the knife. So many other options than executing him on the streets.’ the attorney said.
‘They murdered my son, in a wheelchair with no legs. They do need to do something about it,’ his mother, Dorothy Lowe, said at a press conference last week.
‘Nothing but the truth and justice for my son. My son was murdered,’ she said.
‘Anthony was a good person. He was always there for his family. He was our protector.
‘I want to achieve truth and justice, because if anybody else would have shot Anthony, with him being a disabled person, they would be in jail now for murder,’ she added.
Lowe, 36, lost his legs recently, according to his family. They say he was murdered
A different view of the incident shows Lowe Jr. on the ground as the third officer arrives. He was clutching a large ‘butcher’s knife’, which the cops say he threatened to ‘throw’ at them
Lowe, who used a wheelchair to get around after recently losing both of his legs, was killed in a hail of 10 bullets after trying to flee from cops. He is shown lying on the sidewalk after being shot multiple times. He was pronounced dead at the scene
The family told The LA Times that he lost the lower half of his legs recently following a different altercation with police in Texas.
He had been living with his mother as a result of the injury.
On the day of his death, she says he’d told her he was going to McDonald’s.
Lowe did not have a criminal record in Los Angeles County but was known to police having been arrested on a 2007 warrant for robbery and petty theft on April 20 2021.
The charges were all dismissed after a preliminary hearing two weeks later on May 4.
‘I fully recognize the need for answers and the impulse to rush to judgment, but we must allow peace and patience to guide us through this process,’ Huntington Park Police Chief Lozano said during a press conference
Dorothy Lowe said she wanted the truth about why her son was killed, and justice for him
Anthony Lowe’s family gathered at a press conference last Monday
Family and friends of Anthony Lowe Jr held a news conference last week as they demanded an investigation into his death outside of the Huntington Park Police Department
