Man under watch by terrorism investigators killed by Boston police
A man under surveillance by terrorism investigators was shot and killed outside a pharmacy Tuesday after he lunged with a "military-style" knife at a city police officer and an FBI agent, Boston Police Commissioner William Evans said.
The man, according to Evans, refused orders by the members of the Joint Terrorism Task Force to drop his weapon before the officer and agent both opened fire. "The officers asked him several times to put the knife down," Evans said.
The man had been under surveillance and confronted the investigators after they identified themselves as law enforcement and asked him to stop and talk outside a CVS pharmacy in the city's Roslindale neighborhood at about 7 a.m. Tuesday. The man was on foot.
He was taken to a hospital, where he died.
Local news station Fox 25 broadcast images of the knife, which appeared to be 6 to 8 inches long with a thick, black handle.
PHOTO: PD evidence techs lift up a knife next to an evidence marker at the scene in #Roslindale
#Bostonpic.twitter.com/K8StorPimT
— Scott Eisen (@scotteisenphoto) June 2, 2015
The officer and agent did "what they are trained to do," the police commissioner said.
Evans did not disclose why the man was under surveillance. A law enforcement official told the Boston Globe that the man may have planned "something sinister" before he was stopped.
A man who said he was a brother of the victim disagreed, writing on Facebook that the victim, who he identifies as Usaama Rahim, "was waiting for the bus to go to his job" when he was "confronted by three Boston Police officers and subsequently shot in the back three times."
The man, Ibrahim Rahim, added that his brother was on the phone with his father when he encountered the police and his last words were "I can't breathe," though Mashable can't currently confirm the authenticity of his claim.
The police officer and the FBI agent were also evaluated at the hospital for what Evans described as "stress," though they were not physically injured.
Hours after the man was shot, the FBI reportedly raided a house that is connected to the investigation, though details are scant. Mashable has left a message with the FBI's Boston office for more information.
Additional reporting by Mashable. Have something to add to this story? Share it in the comments.
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