New footage shows double amputee stabbing man before he was shot, killed by police
HUNTINGTON PARK, Calif. -- Police in southern California have released new video footage in the case of a double amputee who was fatally shot after stabbing one man and threatening to throw his knife at Huntington Park officers.
The family of Anthony Lowe has been critical of the Jan. 26 shooting, saying that he was not a threat to officers because of his disabled condition. They are expected to file a lawsuit against the department and are calling for prosecution of the officers.
In a video previously made public, Lowe is seen hobbling on his two partially-amputated limbs with a knife in hand before he is shot by officers.
In the new video, surveillance footage from a nearby gas station shows why police were called to the scene in the first place.
Lowe is seen, out of his wheelchair and hobbling on his amputated limbs, approaching a pedestrian on the street from behind and stabbing him without warning in the torso.
It's not immediately clear if the two men knew each other or if anything sparked the attack, but the victim appeared to be walking away from Lowe and not looking at him before the stabbing.
Family of double amputee killed by Huntington Park police marches for justice
After he was stabbed, the victim stumbled into traffic lanes.
Police were called about the stabbing and officers were on scene within minutes.
Later video shows three officers try to detain Lowe as he hobbles down the street at a rapid pace, knife in hand. At one point he turns toward the three officers, who all have their guns drawn, and raises the knife in either a threatening gesture or possibly a throwing motion.
It was at that point, police say, when the officers fatally shot Lowe.
The weapon was described as a 12-inch butcher knife.
Huntington Park Police Chief Cosme Lozano released the new footage Monday, a week and a half after the shooting. The chief declined to elaborate on the status of the investigation into the incident.
"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," Lozano said.
The investigation into the officer-involved shooting is being led by the LA County Sheriff's department and so far shows that the responding officers tased Lowe twice - but that it had no effect and he refused to drop the knife.
Still, Lowe's family says there were other means the officers could have used to subdue him without deadly force.
Attorney Annee Della Donna, the attorney for Lowe's mother, suggests the officers could have used their vehicles to pin him in, or used rubber bullets.
"They could have pulled their shields out of their vehicles if they were worried about getting hit by the knife," the attorney said. "So many other options than executing him on the streets."
