Recently, a colleague who is a double amputee sent a group email in which he lamented “they want to kill me too.” A copy of a news article about Anthony Lowe was appended to the email. Lowe, a double amputee, was killed in Huntington, California by police. Lowe’s killing was not an aberration. According to statistics, more than 50% of the people killed by people are disabled. The Lowe case is just another stark reminder of this reality.
Lowe’s case follows a predictable pattern. The police report suggests his shooting and death were justifiable. Yet witnesses and family were left stunned by the ferocity and intensity of Low’s death. According to police, law enforcement was called on January 26th in response to a stabbing. Arriving on scene they found a victim with a collapsed lung and internal bleeding. The victim alleged he was attacked by a man in a wheelchair. He also said that Lowe dismounted his wheelchair and stabbed him with a 12 inch knife in the side of the chest.
Police then came into contact with a disabled man in a wheelchair brandishing a knife. Ordered to drop his weapon, Lowe refused to do so. Tasers were deployed but he could not be subdued. Unable to contain him, police shot Lowe. He was pronounced dead at the scene.
Witnesses accounts and video tell a slightly different story. Officers in Huntington Park do not wear body cams. Lowe was tasered and shot ten times through the torso. The officers involved were placed on paid leave. Members of Lowe's family are demanding idenitifcation and prosecution of the officers. They are also demanding that surveillance video from a nearby hospital be given to the family for review.
The only video from the incident, other than the surveillance tape, belongs to bystanders. In those videos, which are of poor quality, Low is seen moving away from officers, while holding a knife in his hand. A second video shows an officer behind Lowe and the moment when he was fatally shot by police. Famil members would not comment on whether or not Lowe stabbed the alleged victim before being killed. Attorneys for Lowe's family have filed a wrongful death lawsuit against the City of Los Angeles.
Lowe was a double amputee who lostt both of his limbs last year in an accident. He was in the process of being fitted for prosthetics. He was a father and deeply depressed regarding the lost of his limbs. Community and family concerns about this incident remain unresolved. Many wonder how long this set of circumstances will continue.