Global outrage against the use of force against a person with a disability has been prompted by the killing of a double amputee who was carrying a huge knife and was shot by police in Huntington Park, California.
According to police, Anthony Lowe, a Black man who lost both legs last year and was still waiting for prosthetics, stabbed someone on Thursday before being shot roughly ten times in the upper body with a stun gun. The family of Lowe questioned the need to execute a man who required a wheelchair for mobility.
“I want to achieve truth and justice because if anybody else had shot Anthony, with him being a disabled person, they would be in jail now for murder,” said Ebonique Simon, the mother of Lowe’s 15-year-old son. “They wouldn’t be out taking leave with pay.”
The stabbing victim, a 46-year-old male stable in the hospital and awaiting surgery, was identified by Lt. Hugo Reynaga of the Los Angeles County sheriff’s homicide squad, which generally handles officer shootings involving Huntington Park police.
Reynaga stated on Wednesday that Huntington Park police are composing a report on the incident. Due to the ongoing investigation into the incident, Huntington Park police declined to comment on Lowe’s passing or describe what occurred before the interaction.
The officers involved in Lowe’s death, who have not been publicly identified, have been placed on paid administrative leave pending the outcome of the investigation, Huntington Park police said in a statement.
Lowe’s family claimed they had received conflicting information since they were informed of his passing. Lowe had been living with his mother after losing both of his legs, the family claimed, despite the police telling them they had thought he was homeless. They were also told that Lowe brandished a knife as he charged the cops, but Simon pointed out that a witness’ account did not seem to corroborate that.
“The whole world has seen that video now, and that’s not what happened,” she said. “I don’t even want my son to pick up his phone. I don’t want him to see the videos.”
A shaky cellphone video posted on Twitter depicts Lowe, whose legs were amputated at the knees, leaving the wheelchair and stumbling along the pavement while being pursued by police officers brandishing weapons. The footage obscures the circumstances of the encounter but does not show the shooting.
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Huntington Park police said in a statement that officers responded to a report of a stabbing victim on the afternoon of Jan. 26. The victim, who had sustained a collapsed lung and internal bleeding, said a Black man in a wheelchair attacked him, police said.
According to the police statement, “the suspect dismounted his wheelchair, raced to the victim without warning, and stabbed him in the side of the chest with a 12″ butcher knife.” The suspect then sprinted back to the wheelchair before taking off from the area in it.
Lowe was then discovered nearby with a massive knife while defying police orders, according to the statement. Police used two Tasers to subdue him after he “threatened to advance or throw the knife” at them, according to the statement.
Lowe was shot and killed on the sidewalk after that failed, it claimed. Even though Lowe was carrying identification bearing his mother’s address, his family was not informed until the following morning, according to relatives.
