Anthony Lowe, 36, a double amputee and wheelchair user was shot dead by the police in the US.
The January 26 police shooting in southeastern Los Angeles is reportedly the latest killing of a black man to set off protests, even as the 29-year-old Tyre Nichols is to be remembered at a funeral service on Wednesday for the life he lived. Five police officers were charged with second-degree murder for beating up Nichols which led to his death.
A spokesperson for the family of Anthony Lowe told CBS News that he was undergoing a mental health crisis when he was shot.
A grainy video of the incident has gone viral on social media.
According to reports, in a statement issued on January 30, the Huntington Park Police Department said its officers were responding to a stabbing on the afternoon of January. 26. The attacker was later identified as Lowe. He was carrying a 12-inch butcher knife. Reports suggested that when the police officers attempted to detain the man, he allegedly ignored verbal orders and “threatened to advance or throw the knife at the officers.” They also said they tasered the suspect twice. When the suspect continued to threaten officers with the butcher knife, the officers-involved shot at him.
Yatoya Toy, Lowe’s sister, told the Los Angeles Times that her brother’s legs were amputated last year after an altercation with law enforcement in Texas.
Lowe’s mother Dorothy said, “This situation is worse than George Floyd. When these videos go out, it’s going to be all bad.”
The family has not commented on Lowe’s alleged involvement in the stabbing incident, according to Time magazine.