A double amputee was shot and killed by police in California as he was running away "scared for his life," his family said.
The Huntington Park Police Department is facing community outrage after officers fatally shot 36-year-old Anthony Lowe, who appeared to abandon his wheelchair and attempt to flee on his amputated legs before he was killed last week, per bystander footage.
According to police, officers were responding to reports of a stabbing by a man in a wheelchair, per the Los Angeles Times. Police said Lowe was wielding a long-bladed knife during his encounter with officers.
In bystander footage, Lowe appears to threaten officers with the knife as they chase him down the sidewalk with their guns brandished. Police said the officers employed lethal force after the deployment of a Taser was "ineffective."
“He tried to run away, and every time he turned around and did the motion like he was gonna throw the knife at him, they tased him,” Police spokesperson Lt. Hugo Reynaga told the LA Times. “They were trying to give this guy the less-lethal taser shock. And because it was ineffective, they had to go to something that was more effective.”
Lowe's family is demanding justice for the father of two. They allege police used excessive force.
“He was running away from them as if he was scared for his life,” said Ebonique Simon, the mother of Anthony’s son. “This could have been handled in any other way. But they chose gunfire as the resolution to the problem. That is insane … The police are supposed to be upholding the law, and we’re supposed to trust them with our lives, but how can we, if they do something like this?”
“My son was murdered,” Dorothy Lowe, the victim's mother, added. “I don’t want nobody to react on it. I just want y’all to get justice.”
The officers involved have not been identified and were put on administrative leave.
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