Family and friends of Anthony Lowe Jr hold a news conference to demand an investigation into his death outside of the Huntington Park Police Department.Photo: PATRICK T. FALLON/AFP via Getty Images
Officers from the Huntington Park Police Department responded to a stabbing report around 3:40 p.m., according to aJan. 30 statement. There, a victim described his attacker as a “Black male suspect in a wheelchair.”
The suspect “dismounted the wheelchair, ran to the victim without provocation, and stabbed him in the side of the chest with a 12-inch “butcher knife,” before he “ran back” to his wheelchair and fled the scene, the statement reads.
In the search for the attacker, officers found Lowe a few blocks away holding a 12-inch butcher knife, police said. Officers tried to detain Lowe, who allegedly ignored verbal commands and threatened to “advance or throw the knife at the officers.”
According to the statement, officers tased the alleged stabber twice at that point, but it was “ineffective.”
“The suspect continued to threaten officers with the butcher knife, resulting in an officer-involved shooting,” police said in the statement.
Since Lowe’s death, loved ones and activists have taken to the police department’s headquarters to demand accountability for his killing.
PATRICK T. FALLON/AFP via Getty Images
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Lowe’s sister, Yatoya Toy, told theLA Timesthat Lowe lost both his legs after a previous attack with law enforcement in Texas. Details surrounding that incident were unclear.
A family spokesperson toldCBS Newsthat Lowe was undergoing a mental health crisis when he was fatally shot.
“Anthony has a strong family, and we’re here to stand with his family to fight for justice,” Cliff Smith, an organizer with the Coalition for Community Control Over the Police told theLA Times.
The involved officers have since been charged with second-degree murder.
source: people.com
