Huntington Park police officers shoot dead double amputee Anthony Lowe Jr while trying to run
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California cops gun down double amputee, 36, as he tries to run from them on his stumps: Police department says officers feared he’d ‘throw the knife’ at them
- WARNING: GRAPHIC CONTENT
- Anthony Lowe Jr. was killed by Huntington Park police officers on Thursday
- He had just stabbed someone and was trying to run away on his stumps.
- Officers fired at least eight shots at Lowe Jr, who died at the scene.
A group of California police officers shot and killed a double amputee on Thursday as he tried to run from them on his stumps after jumping from his wheelchair.
The three officers from the Huntington Park Police Department were filmed firing at least eight shots at Anthony Lowe Jr., a 36-year-old father of two.
Lowe Jr. had just stabbed someone without provocation, according to the police department, and was trying to run from two officers.
Video of the incident shows him standing in front of two officers next to his wheelchair, from which he had jumped.
The three officers from the Huntington Park Police Department were filmed firing at least eight shots at Anthony Lowe Jr., a 36-year-old father of two.
Lowe jumped out of his wheelchair and was trying to run from the officers when they opened fire.
Lowe, 36, recently lost his legs, according to his family. They say they murdered him
He turned and tried to walk quickly away from them, clutching a large meat cleaver in one hand.
A second patrol car arrived, from which a third policeman got out. First, they administered Tases, which was ‘ineffective’, according to a police press release.
Within 15 seconds of the third officer’s arrival, they fired multiple shots, shooting Lowe in the upper torso. Once he was on the ground, lying face down, they handcuffed him.
‘The suspect was electrocuted at least twice by Huntington Park officers, but the taser deployment was ineffective.
“The suspect attempted to throw the butcher knife at the officers again, at which point an officer-involved shooting ensued,” the Los Angeles County Sheriff’s Office statement said.
A different view of the incident shows Lowe Jr. on the ground as the third officer arrived. He was clutching a large ‘cleaver’, which cops say he threatened to ‘throw’ at them.
Lowe Jr. later died at the scene. His family is now demanding answers from the police department.
The officers involved have not yet been named. It is not clear if they have been put on leave.
The Los Angeles County Sheriff’s Office is now investigating the incident, which comes three weeks after unarmed 29-year-old Tire Nichols was bludgeoned to death by a different group of police officers in Memphis, Tennessee.
‘They murdered my son, in a wheelchair with no legs. They need to do something about it,’ his mother, Dorothy Lowe, said at a news conference on Sunday.
The family told The LA Times that he recently lost the lower half of his legs after a separate altercation with police in Texas.
No further details were given.
Family and friends of Anthony Lowe Jr hold a press conference to demand an investigation into his death outside the Huntington Park Police Department in Huntington Park, California.