‘Fleeing’ double amputee shot dead by police

LOS ANGELES police shot dead a black wheelchair-using double amputee as he tried to hobble away on his stumps.

Two officers from Huntington Park police were temporarily stood down from duty on Monday after they fired at least eight shots at Anthony Lowe Jr, a 36-year-old father of two.

Police said they received a report that a man had been stabbed by a man in a wheelchair. Officers said when they arrived on the scene they found Lowe with a butcher knife.

Video footage taken by a passerby and shared on social media shows Lowe out of his wheelchair, trying to get away from two officers using his arms to propel himself along the ground.

Huntington Park police said that Lowe, whose family say he suffered from mental health issues, ignored officers’ verbal commands and “threatened to advance or throw the knife at the officers”.

In a statement, the department said officers, who were not wearing body cameras, tried to Taser Lowe twice but it had failed to incapacitate him.

Within seconds of a third officer arriving, they fire multiple shots, hitting Lowe in the upper torso.

Once he was on the ground lying on his stomach they placed him in handcuffs. He died at the scene.