Police officials in Huntington Park, California, made more video public after officers responding to an emergency shot and killed a double amputee who had stabbed a civilian.
Huntington Park police Monday released surveillance videos showing a double amputee armed with knife in the minutes before responding officers shot him dead after knocking him off his wheelchair.
One video shows Anthony Lowe, 36, confront a man who was walking past him. Another video showed officers knocking Lowe off his chair and walking behind him as he walked away, eventually shooting him as he turned toward them and raised a knife.
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Huntington Park Police Department Chief Cosme Lozano said the video’s release was in the interest of transparency, though he refused to field questions from reporters after a Monday morning news conference. Lozano, noting that his officers do not use body-worn cameras, also expressed condolences to Lowe’s family.
The video showed Lowe sitting in his wheelchair on the sidewalk in front of a Shell gas station on the 2400 block of Slauson Avenue. The 46-year-old victim crossed the street and began walking past Lowe. Lowe, off his chair, came up behind the man and stabbed him once in the chest.
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"The suspect dismounted his wheelchair, ran to the victim without provocation, and stabbed him in the side of the chest with a 12-inch butcher knife," police said earlier in a statement. "The suspect then ran back to the wheelchair and fled the scene in the wheelchair."
The man suffered a collapsed lung and internal bleeding, police said. A 911 recording, also released Monday, captured the victim saying that a Black man in a wheelchair “with no feet” had stabbed him “in the heart.” Lowe’s legs were amputated at the knees.
Officers found Lowe, carrying a large knife, nearby. Lowe "threatened to advance or throw the knife," according to the police statement. Video provided by a witness and posted to Twitter appears to show Lowe out of the wheelchair being followed by police.
Newly released surveillance video from a clinic on the 1900 block of Slauson Avenue captured a portion of the interaction. It shows two officers walking behind Lowe, who is moving away from them in the wheelchair. One officer appeared to flip the wheelchair over and knock the man off.
Officers point something at Lowe, though it’s unclear whether they were pointing stun guns or their service weapons. Officers deployed two stun guns to try and subdue the man before shooting him, the police said in their statement.
The video from the clinic shows Lowe continuing to move away from officers. A third officer arrived and also followed Lowe, who was on the opposite side of the sidewalk. At one point, Lowe turned toward the officers and raised the knife above his head. That’s when officers open fire. They shot the man about 10 times throughout the upper body, according to the statement.
Lozano said the time between the stabbing victim calling 911 and police killing Lowe was about seven minutes. The officers involved in the shooting are still on leave, pending the outcome of an investigation, Lozano said while urging “peace and patience” throughout the process.
“I trust you are aware it is not I who has the authority to determine if the actions of my officers meet the legal standards of justifiable use of deadly force,” the chief said. “It will be the Los Angeles County district attorney who will ultimately make the determination. Once that occurs, I am committed to making appropriate administrative decisions pertaining to my officers.”
Family members have decried the use of force, questioning why it was necessary to use against a man who needed a wheelchair.
"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," Ebonique Simon, the mother of Lowe’s 15-year-old son, told NBC News. "They wouldn’t be out taking leave with pay."
Community activists held a march over the weekend in Huntington Park in support of Lowe's family.
The family has filed a claim against the city on behalf of Lowe's 15-year-old son. A claim is the first step before the filing of a lawsuit.
