Authorities on Monday released new video showing the moments leading up to a fatal encounter between a double amputee and Huntington Park police last month.
Huntington Park Police Chief Cosme Lozano said he wanted to release the video in order to establish transparency with the community, and indicated that the investigation into the shooting is complex and is ongoing.
“I fully understand the need for answers and the rush to judgement, but we must allow peace and patience to guide us through this process,” Lozano said.
The deadly incident occurred on Jan. 26 after 36-year-old double amputee Anthony Lowe allegedly stabbed another man in front of a Shell gas station.
Surveillance video released Monday shows Lowe get off his wheelchair and approach a man who he then attacked with a 12-inch butcher knife, police said.
The victim was critically injured but is recovering.
Police also released audio from a 9-1-1 call of a witness describing Lowe as the suspect.
In another video from a nearby business, Lowe is again off his wheelchair and armed with the knife as officers approach with their guns out.
The officers used a stun gun on Lowe twice, but he was unresponsive, police said.
They eventually shot at Lowe several times, killing him.
“This was an unnecessary killing. It never should have happened,” Annee Della Donna, the Lowe family’s attorney, said.
The family’s attorneys went on to say that the video released today does not change their claim that the shooting was unjustified.
“They didn’t think twice. A double amputee who was hobbling away,” Donna said. “The police could have stood back 75 feet and hit him with the low-impact devices they have in the back of their vehicle.”
Lowe’s family is suing the city and the police department for millions of dollars in damages claiming wrongful death and civil rights violations.
The family believes police could have handled the situation differently, adding that Lowe was suffering from depression after losing his legs and was not acting like himself that day.
Lowe apparently lost his legs during another encounter with law enforcement in Texas.
The officers involved in last month’s shooting were placed on paid administrative leave.
Lozano said the Los Angeles County District Attorney’s Office will determine if his officers’ actions were justifiable.