While Tyre Nichols‘ funeral went on in Memphis, Tennessee, another fatal police shooting involving a Black man came to the forefront. On Jan. 26, Huntington Park, California police officers shot and killed Anthony Lowe Jr., a 36-year-old double amputee.
“They murdered my son in a wheelchair- with no legs,” Dorothy, Lowe’s mother said, according to TIME.
In a statement released by the Huntington Park police department, officers responded to a call about a stabbing. When the police arrived at the scene, they found the victim, who suffered a “life-threatening stab” in the side of the chest that resulted in a collapsed lung and internal bleeding. The suspect was described as a Black adult male in a wheelchair. When police located Lowe he alleged jumped out of his wheelchair with a 12-inch butcher knife. The department claimed they tased Lowe first, before fatally shooting him. Footage of the interaction has surfaced online.
Huntington Park, California police officers shoot dead Anthony Lowe Jr, a double amputee man who tried to run away from them on the stumps of his legs. The cops said they were afraid Lowe would throw the knife he had at them. pic.twitter.com/y4FjqED4Hy
— Mike Sington (@MikeSington) January 31, 2023
The Huntington Park Police Department, Homicide Bureau of the L.A. County Sheriff’s Department and the L.A. County District Attorney’s Office are investigating the fatal shooting, TIME reports.
“The City and Huntington Park Police Department recognize the impact on the community and the families as well as the significance of this incident,” the police department released in a statement. “We are committed to ensuring comprehensive investigations are completed while maintaining transparency and protecting the integrity of the investigation. We thank the public for their assistance and ask for everyone’s patience to allow the investigative process to determine the relevant facts of this incident and to protect the procedural and judicial rights of all involved.”
Yatoya Toy, Lowe’s sister, told the Los Angeles Times her brother’s legs were amputated last year after an altercation with police officers in Texas. Lowe had two teenage children, and the mother of his children told CNN he was “dealing with a lot of depression” over the loss of his legs. Another spokesperson for the family told “CBS News” he was going through a mental health crisis at the time he was shot. Lowe’s mother claimed his death was “worse than George Floyd’s.”
