California Police Fatally Shoot Double Amputee Stabbing Suspect as He Tried to Flee

Anthony Lowe Jr. was dealing with a mental health crisis when he was fatally shot by Huntington Park police officers on Jan. 26, a family spokesperson told CBS

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

A double amputee accused of stabbing someone was shot and killed in California by police officers who claimed he threatened them with a knife and tried to flee, authorities said.

The victim, identified by family as 36-year-old father-of-two Anthony Lowe Jr., was fatally shot by Huntington Park police officers on Jan. 26 after he allegedly tried to throw a long blade at them, according to the Los Angeles Times.

Officers from the Huntington Park Police Department responded to a stabbing report around 3:40 p.m., according to a Jan. 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.

The suspect was pronounced dead at the scene by paramedics with the Los Angeles County Fire Department, according to authorities.

The involved officers were placed on paid administrative leave and the death is being investigated by the Huntington Park Police Department, Los Angeles County Sheriff's Department, and the Los Angeles County District Attorney's Office, according to the statement. Authorities have yet to reveal their identities.

Unverified video footage captured by a bystander and later shared on Twitter appeared to show the man getting out of his wheelchair and hobbling away from officers while holding what appeared to be a knife. The clip ends shortly after a police car blocks the camera's view.

It is unclear if official footage of the incident exists, or if it will be released by authorities. The man in the video was later identified as Lowe, according to the LA Times.

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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"They murdered my son in a wheelchair with no legs," Lowe's mother, Dorothy Lowe, told the public in footage captured by ABC 7.

Lowe's sister, Yatoya Toy, told the LA Times that Lowe lost both his legs after a previous attack with law enforcement in Texas. Details surrounding that incident were unclear.

A family spokesperson told CBS News that Lowe was undergoing a mental health crisis when he was fatally shot.

PATRICK T. FALLON/AFP via Getty Images

"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 the LA Times.

The high-profile death also comes weeks after another Black man in Memphis, Tenn., died after a police encounter. Tyre Nichols, 29, was severely beaten by five officers from the now-disbanded SCORPION unit during a traffic stop for alleged reckless driving on Jan. 7. He was taken to a local hospital, where he died three days later.

The involved officers have since been charged with second-degree murder.