California police kill double amputee who was fleeing: 'Scared for his life'

[kpete]

A southern California police department is facing national backlash after footage revealed that officers fatally shot a double amputee and wheelchair user who appeared to be hobbling away on the ground before he was killed.

Anthony Lowe, 36, was killed by officers in Huntington Park, a city in southern Los Angeles county, last Thursday. Cellphone footage captured part of the incident, showing Lowe on a sidewalk next to his wheelchair appearing to try to flee as two officers approach him with weapons drawn. More police cars arrived as the officers followed Lowe, who seemed to be limping away, but the video did not capture the shooting.

Now, Lowe’s family is calling for officers to be terminated and face murder charges.

“I’m heartbroken, and filled with anger and rage,” Tatiana Jackson, his younger sister, told the Guardian on Tuesday. “I just can’t understand why they would do that to someone in a wheelchair. I want somebody to explain to me what was the reason that you had to gun down a guy who has no legs.”

............

The Huntington Park department does not use body cameras.

MORE:
https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2023/jan/31/anthony-lowe-police-killing-amputee-huntington-park

[Mysterian]

1. Wow

I have no words.

[Ferrets are Cool]

2. Just when you think it can't get any worse...

it does.

[uponit7771]

3. Thug assed cops

[radicalleft]

4. Unless the subject had a weapon (firearm) pointed directly

at these "cops" there is ZERO reason to deploy deadly force! Hell, just walk behind him for long enough and his arms would get tired...

[WhiskeyGrinder]

5. The institution is unreformable. ACAB, FTP, abolition now.

[EX500rider]

7. Yes all criminals, rapists, drug dealers and gangs fully support your abolition plan

The rest of us, not so much.

[Smackdown2019]

6. Sounds bad until you hear what happened

Apparently, this fine person was not no boy scott.

He originally lost his legs from a previous runin with the law and he actually can walk on his stub legs. The cops were called after reports of a stabbing from a handicap male with a long knife. They found this handicap who then got out of wheelchair and start swinging his knife. They used tasers to control him, but was not effective.

This person pose a danger to himself and others.

He did bodily harm with the knife.

If one acts like Tasmania Devil, do you expect low paid officers of the law to subdue with a high risk of being severely hurt or killed or expect tovtake appropriate matters if all fails? This was not a broken tail light stop, This was a stabbing of another human being.

Granted, law enforcement have issues, but 99% they are in the right to serve the public the swore to serve and protect. The 1% are in it for the wrong reasons.

This by what I learned from news reports, he not an angel and was actively harming others.

[LuckyCharms]

8. Police in several European countries have a reasonably good track record

of disarming knife wielding individuals who are "not boy scouts" without using deadly force.

Even people who "are not angels" and are double amputees.

[bluestarone]

9. Give me a break!

[WhiskeyGrinder]

10. Oh, well then.

[Beaverhausen]

12. No. Cops are not judge, jury, or executioners

Last edited Wed Feb 1, 2023, 05:04 PM - Edit history (1)

If they couldn’t figure out how to apprehend him without killing him, why are they cops?

Stop making excuses

Cops should not be killing suspects. Period

[Smackdown2019]

14. So what do you suggest they do?

How would you handle a person who is like this individual?

Most countries dont allow long blades or guns to their citizens. Here in the US, more weapons than its citizens.

Also, Bonny and Clyde were no angels.....

[Phoenix61]

15. Wow! Just wow! If those officers were unable to manage

a double amputee with a knife without killing him they should be fired on the spot. I doesn’t get any easier than that. What do you do? You keep other people away from him until he gets tired and/or bored and drops the knife.

[Smackdown2019]

20. Sounds like plan. But

Sounds like a plan, but devils on drugs can exhibit long periods of behavior as such. Not saying he was on drugs, but how would the police know?

Remember, knifes can be thrown as well and this suspect stab someone.

Lets Remember this. Quarterback monday night games on a Wednesday night, is much earlier to know what not to do. This happened in real time...

If i was one those police officers, i would use the taser like they did, but it was ineffective. Next option if available would be rubber shot..... how would you resolve it?

[Hermit-The-Prog]

27. Block his path with one of the cop SUVs shown in video, toss some coats over him.

[Smackdown2019]

30. Again, Thursday night couch Quarterback

So, according to you, maneuver their vehicle and then throw a coat over a knife welding stabbing suspect? You Sir is out of your mind!

What do you attend to do with the car? Run him over? Second, so you expect to raise their arms to toss a coat over a man with a knife? Thats like opening up saying stab me while I coat you!

Those officers did what they had to do!

[Hermit-The-Prog]

31. Those officers murdered a man.

I am not out of my mind. Please leave ad hominem attacks out of the discussion.

A double amputee cannot charge through a vehicle. There was more than 1 cop vehicle in the video I saw. They work well for road blocks; they can be used for a relatively slow-moving man on stumps.

Tossing those heavy coats they wear does not require a cop to get within stabbing range. A coat is just an example. Other materials -- tarps, ropes, spare tires, cold water from a garden hose, fire extinguisher spray -- can be used to impede progress and aggression. If they're scared, they can call in a horse wrangler or cattle wrangler to assist, after they've sufficiently blocked the man's progress with vehicles.

[Smackdown2019]

32. Those officers STOPPED a ATTEMPT MURDER!

Those officers STOPPED an ATTEMPTED MURDER that STILL had the WEAPON in his hands.... to me, he was an ARMED and was NOT abiding to the officers commands for arrest!

[Hermit-The-Prog]

33. Murder by cop is becoming far too common. De-escalation does not seem to be taught.

[Smackdown2019]

34. De-escalation ? Really? After this individual just stabbed someone?

This is not murder! This is protecting the public.

This particular case police actions in my eyes were justified.

Now if it was a non-violent stop or apprehension, i would agree that a different approach should be the case, but not an attempted murderer with the weapon still in his hands!

[Hermit-The-Prog]

35. I see no one in immediate danger in the video. The man abandoned his wheels.

[H2O Man]

36. See post #24

where you asked for a suggestion on what could have been done.

[waddirum]

16. are you a boy scout?

WTF?!?!

[Smackdown2019]

23. Was not a boy scout

But i have and still is serving this country!

[Mysterian]

24. "But i have and still is serving this country!"

Could you post that in English?

[Smackdown2019]

26. That was weird

I finger typed on my phone and it didn't put my words together....

I never was a boy scout, but I have and still this country.

[NowISeetheLight]

17. CNN Described it

I agree with you Smackdown2019. CNN also has a good article describing what happened and how it happened.

https://www.cnn.com/2023/01/31/us/california-double-amputee-anthony-lowe-killed-by-police/index.html

Apparently the guy dismounted his wheelchair and ran over (yes ran on his stub legs) to the victim. He stabbed him with a 12" butcher knife causing a collapsed lung and internal bleeding (life-threatening injuries). He then fled the scene in his wheelchair before being cornered by police. Despite orders to drop the knife, he threatened to advance on them with the knife or throw the knife at them.

Yes they shot him. What if they had not and he had managed to stab someone else and injure them because of "police inaction"? What if he had thrown the knife and an officer or bystander was injured? What if they tried to disarm him instead and he stabbed one of the officers? They tased him twice, it didn't work, he didn't drop the knife, shooting him was the only real alternative.

Hopefully they will release the body cam footage quickly. I'm guessing if it played out as described it'll totally vindicate the decision to shoot him. Knife wielding maniac? We'll see. If the description in these articles is accurate, this is no different from the Ma’Khia White shooting in Columbus, OH last year. The body cam there showed her raising her arm with the knife before being shot. Cops told her to stop, instead she kept pushing the potential victim into a car, moving her arm back holding the knife, it sure looked like she was about to plunge it into the victim. Good shoot (video linked below). They protested that too. If the cop hadn't shot that girl in the pink suit would've been hurt or killed. Then they'd protest "police inaction". Cops are in no-win situations sometimes.

Sometimes cops have to shoot people. It sucks. But it can be necessary.

[Smackdown2019]

22. Exactly!

Sometimes actions are warranted for lethal force. It does suck and the shooting will cause the cop that shoot the suspect to have issues emotionally.

Law and Order is something we all take for granted.

Without order, we be a third country ran by overlords.

[NickB79]

28. Until you hear (what the police say) happened

You realize the police reports of crimes like this are typically not worth using as toilet paper, right?

Look at the reports from the Nichols and Floyd murders. Both are completely made-up shit.

[gulliver]

11. I think these stories deserve some blame for make policing worse

When the news doesn't provide proportion, readers and listeners can be given the misimpression that a heinous and rare story is somehow representative of policing in general. That contributes, I'd think, to more pressure on cops and more antagonism against them based on what is, in effect, a stereotype.

Make the job worse and less respected and what you would expect to get is more difficult recruitment and lower candidate quality. The policed communities suffer.

The stories have to be reported, of course. Readers, for now, are still in a position of needing to provide their own critical thinking skills to what they read.

[In It to Win It]

13. I saw the video. It was horrific to watch

[lpbk2713]

19. That cannot be explained away.

That is willful and wanton homicide. No question about it.
They could have used their batons or aerosol.

[Stuart G]

29. K & R