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CNN
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Movies purportedly capturing the moments earlier than the taking pictures dying of a double-amputee man holding a knife after a stabbing assault are elevating questions on whether or not police used excessive force within the Southern California metropolis of Huntington Park.
On Thursday afternoon, Huntington Park Police Division officers responded to a report of a stabbing, the division mentioned in an announcement Monday. Responding officers discovered a sufferer affected by “a life-threatening stab wound leading to a collapsed lung and inner bleeding,” the assertion mentioned.
The sufferer described the attacker as a Black man in a wheelchair who “dismounted the wheelchair, ran to the sufferer with out provocation, and stabbed him within the aspect of the chest with a 12” butcher knife” after which fled the scene in his wheelchair, HPPD mentioned.
The sufferer was taken to a neighborhood hospital and stays in important situation, in keeping with HPPD.
Throughout their search, police discovered the alleged suspect a number of blocks away holding a 12-inch butcher knife, HPPD mentioned. The suspect allegedly ignored officer instructions and threatened to “advance or throw the knife,” and officers used two separate Tasers to attempt to subdue the suspect however failed, HPPD mentioned.
“The suspect continued to threaten officers with the butcher knife, leading to an officer-involved taking pictures,” HPPD mentioned. It was not instantly clear what number of officers had been current or shot the suspect.
The suspect was struck by gunfire within the higher torso and was pronounced useless on scene, the Los Angeles County Sheriff’s Division mentioned in an preliminary assertion.
The concerned officers had been positioned on paid administrative depart pending ongoing investigations from HPPD, the sheriff’s division’s Murder Bureau and the Los Angeles County District Legal professional’s Workplace, HPPD mentioned.
The sheriff’s division confirmed it’s investigating however declined to remark.
Whereas authorities didn’t title the person who died, relations recognized him as 36-year-old Anthony Lowe throughout a information convention held by a neighborhood organizer.
Bystander videos of the incident posted on social media seem to point out the confrontation between police and Lowe on Thursday simply earlier than the taking pictures. A member of the family of Lowe confirmed to CNN the person within the video is Lowe.
In a single video, two uniformed officers are seen pointing their weapons at Lowe. Lowe then seems to maneuver himself in the other way, holding one thing shiny in his fingers, whereas an officer walks behind him. A police automotive then obscures the view. Another video from a distinct view reveals the second when officers seem to open hearth.
“The best way they killed my son, they murdered my son in a wheelchair with no legs,” Dorothy Lowe, Anthony Lowe’s mom, mentioned at a information convention Monday. “In order that they do have to do one thing about it, as a result of I do I would like justice for my son.”
Members of the family didn’t deal with the suggestion that Lowe might have stabbed somebody previous to the taking pictures.
The household and neighborhood members are calling on Los Angeles County District Legal professional George Gascón to cost the concerned officers.
“There will be no justification for killing Anthony, and we’re right here to face along with his household and his neighborhood to battle for justice for Anthony,” mentioned Cliff Smith, an organizer with the Coalition for Group Management Over the Police.
Lowe was a loving, caring father who liked to bop and was fairly humorous, Ebonique Simon, mom to considered one of Lowe’s youngsters, advised CNN. He had been “coping with quite a lot of melancholy” over the lack of his legs in an incident round a 12 months in the past, she mentioned.
The household is heartbroken over the loss and can’t make sense of the story the police are telling, she advised CNN.
The household is eagerly awaiting post-mortem outcomes because the coroner’s investigator assured them that “Anthony’s physique will inform the story,” she mentioned.
The Los Angeles County District Legal professional’s workplace will conduct an unbiased overview after the sheriff’s division completes its investigation, however Communications Director Tiffiny Blacknell advised CNN in an announcement that it’s inappropriate to remark till the case is formally introduced.
“We all know that the Black neighborhood in Los Angeles is reeling and trying to find solutions. We all know nothing can heal the trauma the neighborhood is experiencing proper now,” she mentioned, including that “Los Angeles County deserves to know the way and why these incidents have occurred.”
The California Legal professional Normal’s workplace, which is required beneath state legislation to independently overview officer-involved shootings within the state, advised CNN that it isn’t investigating the matter “at this time limit.”
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