US police shoot fleeing double amputee dead

Video that appears to show the moments before police officers shot dead a double amputee as he ran away from them on his stumps has surfaced in California as the United States grapples with high-profile episodes of police brutality.

Footage taken from various angles by bystanders shows 36-year-old Anthony Lowe leaving his wheelchair behind as officers point their guns at him after allegations he stabbed someone.

No clear view shows exactly what happened next, but the officers fired about 10 rounds and Lowe, who was black, died.

The video comes with police crackdowns on black men under the microscope in the aftermath of Tire Nichols’ brutal beating in Memphis.

Nichols, 29, died on January 10, three days after being kicked, beaten, pepper sprayed and beaten with batons by a group of officers. Five have since been charged with murder.

Officers in Huntington Park, a small Los Angeles city, said they were responding to reports of an unprovoked stabbing by a man in a wheelchair last Thursday.

When they found the alleged suspect holding a 12-inch butcher knife, police said, he disobeyed orders and threatened to “throw the knife.”

Two attempts to Taser him were unsuccessful.

“The suspect continued to threaten officers with the butcher knife, which resulted in a shooting involving officers,” police said.

The videos show Lowe holding a shiny object in his hands, but do not show him approaching officers with it.

The Los Angeles County Sheriff’s Department, which routinely investigates such incidents involving officers from the much smaller Huntington Park Police Department, said the man was hit in the torso and pronounced dead at the scene.

Lowe’s family told the Los Angeles Times that he was dealing with mental health issues.

They have not addressed claims that he may have assaulted anyone.

But Lowe’s mother, Dorothy Lowe, told reporters Monday she wanted action against his death.

“As they killed my son, they killed my son in a wheelchair with no legs,” she said.

“So they have to do something about it because I want justice for my son.”

AFP