Boston Police: Muslim Killed by FBI Agent, Cop During Active Terror Probe
Tuesday, June 2, 2015
By Owen Boss
Boston Herald
An armed man in his 20s being surveilled by the FBI counterterrorism unit was shot and killed by an FBI agent and a Boston police officer in Roslindale this morning, according to Boston Police Commissioner William Evans.
"He was on foot, under surveillance," Evans said. "The officers have been surveilling him and again they wanted to speak to him ... and he turned and our officers gave several commands for him to drop the weapon and unfortunately he came at the officers and they did what they were trained to do and that's never an easy decision for any officer to make."
One FBI agent and one BPD officer fired, FBI Special Agent in Charge Vincent B. Lisi said.
Evans said the suspect was wielding a large military-style black knife that he could have "done a lot of damage" with.
"I think our officers tried their best with the FBI to try to convince him to put down the knife but he didn't leave us a choice," Evans said. "It's an active investigation with the joint terrorism task force ... It's very fluid it's ongoing, but we have one male shot and as you can see it is a very active scene."
The suspect was declared dead at Brigham & Women's Hospital, Evans said.
"All we know is the joint terrorism task force was on this guy and when they confronted him to speak with him he turned and came at the officers and unfortunately he was shot dead," Evans said.
Boston police Lt. Mike McCarthy said the suspect is of Middle Eastern descent and had been under surveillance "for weeks," including this morning.
Authorities are currently not releasing his identity, McCarthy said.
An eyewitness who declined to give his name said the suspect was armed with a knife and had a "scabbard" when he lunged at police and was shot.
Dozens of police officers have swarmed the small shopping plaza and officers are seeking surveillance video from a nearby Dunkin' Donuts, employees said.
The FBI agent and officer involved are being monitored for stress, Evans said.
"I'm leaving all comments to the FBI and the Boston Police Department," said Boston Mayor Martin J. Walsh, who is at the scene. "It's an ongoing investigation so I'm not going to comment."
Developing...
Laurel J. Sweet contributed.
Officers Kill Suspect Who Wielded Knife in Boston
By JESS BIDGOOD and DAVE PHILIPPS
New York Times
JUNE 2, 2015
BOSTON — A man under surveillance by antiterrorism investigators was shot and killed Tuesday by an F.B.I. agent and a Boston police officer after he waved a long black knife at them and refused to back down, officials said.
The man, Usaama Rahim, 26, was approached by officers outside a CVS pharmacy in the city’s Roslindale neighborhood around 7 a.m. Officials said he confronted them with a military-style knife and the two officers opened fire.
The Boston police commissioner, William Evans, said the officers asked Mr. Rahim several times to drop his weapon, and they felt endangered as he approached. “Unfortunately, we had to take his life.” Mr. Evans said the encounter had been captured on video, which he said, showed the officers retreating before opening fire. He said he believed Mr. Rahim had been shot once in the torso and once in the abdomen.
The officers approached Mr. Rahim seeking to question him, without their weapons drawn, Mr. Evans said, but he provided few other details about why Mr. Rahim was being pursued by the authorities.
Mr. Rahim was “wanted for some terrorist-related information we had received,” Mr. Evans said.
“We believed he was a threat,” Mr. Evans said. “He was someone we were watching for quite a time — constant dialogue between us and the F.B.I. The level of alarm brought us to question him today. I don’t think anyone expected the reaction we were going to get out of him.”
In a post on Facebook, Ibrahim Rahim, an imam from California, identified the dead man as his brother. He said his brother had been waiting for a bus when “he was confronted by three Boston Police officers and subsequently shot in the back three times.”
“He was on his cellphone with my dear father during the confrontation needing a witness,” he wrote on Facebook. “His last words to my father who heard the shots were: ‘I can’t breathe!’ ”
Usaama Rahim was taken to a hospital, where he died.
Records show that Mr. Rahim lived in Massachusetts before moving to Florida for several years, where he was a licensed security guard. The police said he most recently lived in Boston’s Roslindale neighborhood.
In 2013, he worked for about a month as a security guard at the Islamic Society of Boston Cultural Center, which includes a school and event space in addition to a mosque.
“Beyond that interaction, he did not pray regularly at the center, nor was he a volunteer or in any kind of leadership position,” said Cheri Andes, a spokeswoman for the center.
On Tuesday, the authorities raided a home in Everett, Mass., in connection with the case. Lt. Frank Hoenig, of the Everett Police Department, said the F.B.I. was leading the investigation and his department was supporting them.
Vincent B. Lisi, the special agent in charge of the F.B.I.’s Boston division, declined to comment on the details of the investigation, but said he believed there was no threat to public safety.
“Our investigation is still ongoing,” said Mr. Lisi.
The officer and the agent were not injured.
Ibrahim Hooper, a spokesman for the Council on American-Islamic Relations, a national advocacy group for American Muslims, said his group is monitoring developments in the investigation.
“We want to know what led to this confrontation this morning,” he said. “What was the probable cause that law enforcement had to stop this individual? Were they all in uniform? Could he have been startled thinking they were something other than law enforcement? There are a number of unanswered questions that need to be addressed.”
The two versions of the shooting, one told by the police and the other by Mr. Rahim’s family, also need to be reconciled, Mr. Hooper added.
“We want a transparent investigation,” he said, “and a revelation of the facts once that investigation is completed.”
Jess Bidgood reported from Boston, and Dave Philipps from New York. Ashley Southall contributed reporting from New York.
Officials: Video captured police, FBI shooting man
The Boston Globe
By Adam Vaccaro
Boston.com Staff | 06.02.15 | 4:45 PM
Boston Police Commissioner William Evans said video captured a Boston Police officer and FBI agent shooting a Roslindale man who was carrying a large knife Tuesday morning.
Evans said in a Tuesday afternoon press conference that video evidence shows that the man, identified as Usaama Rahim, who was being investigated by the FBI’s Joint Terrorism Task Force, was the aggressor in the situation. Rahim died after being shot twice, Evans said.
“We have video depicting the individual coming at the officers as the officers are retreating,” Evans said.
Suffolk County District Attorney Daniel Conley also said the video showed officers backing away when Rahim took out the knife.
A Boston Police spokesperson said the video came from a nearby business and that it could be released at the discretion of the Suffolk County District Attorney’s Office.
Jake Wark, a spokesperson for Conley, said releasing the video was “a decision that has to be made based on the totality of the circumstances in the case” and that such a decision could be made “in the coming days.”
Conley said Thursday that after an investigation into the incident is completed, the entire investigative file will be released to the public.
Rahim has been under watch for “some time,” Evans said. He said Rahim was approached Tuesday morning for questioning. There was not a warrant for his arrest, officials said Tuesday afternoon.
RI home searched in connection with Boston terror investigation
By Tim White and Nancy Krause
June 2, 2015, 4:00 pm
WARWICK, R.I. (WPRI) — The investigation into a man who was shot and killed in Boston as part of a terrorism investigation has stretched into Rhode Island, the Target 12 Investigators have learned.
As first reported on WPRI.com, agents from the FBI and investigators with the Rhode Island State Police have conducted the search of a home in Warwick’s Gaspee Point neighborhood as part of an ongoing anti-terror investigation.
A neighbor told Target 12 it was sometime between 9 a.m. and 10 a.m. when State Police and black SUVs converged on Aspinet Drive – blocking off the neighborhood for several hours.
Neighbor Brian Waterman said it appears they’re looking for a man in his mid-20s who lives across the street from him.
“I have not idea. I would believe they are looking for him because they asked where he was and looked around for a little bit,” said Waterman when asked if his neighbor was in custody. “There are cars lined up and down the street. In order to get down, you have to show your ID. That’s how I got in.”
It’s unclear which home was searched and both the State Police and FBI declined to comment, but a spokesperson for the Boston office of the FBI said there is no threat to public safety.
Target 12 has learned the scene in Warwick is connected to the shooting death of Usaama Rahim of Roslindale, 26.
Just after 7 a.m. Tuesday, investigators with the Joint Terrorism Task Force shot Rahim – who had been under 24-hour surveillance – after authorities say he lunged at them with a military-style knife.
“We believe he was a threat. He was someone we were watching for quite some time. The level of alarm brought us to question him today. No one expected the reaction we would get out of him.” said Boston Police Commissioner William Evans. “At some point, the individual came in close enough proximity that the officers were in danger. Their lives were in danger, when two officers discharged their weapons.”
By Owen Boss
Boston Herald
An armed man in his 20s being surveilled by the FBI counterterrorism unit was shot and killed by an FBI agent and a Boston police officer in Roslindale this morning, according to Boston Police Commissioner William Evans.
"He was on foot, under surveillance," Evans said. "The officers have been surveilling him and again they wanted to speak to him ... and he turned and our officers gave several commands for him to drop the weapon and unfortunately he came at the officers and they did what they were trained to do and that's never an easy decision for any officer to make."
One FBI agent and one BPD officer fired, FBI Special Agent in Charge Vincent B. Lisi said.
Evans said the suspect was wielding a large military-style black knife that he could have "done a lot of damage" with.
"I think our officers tried their best with the FBI to try to convince him to put down the knife but he didn't leave us a choice," Evans said. "It's an active investigation with the joint terrorism task force ... It's very fluid it's ongoing, but we have one male shot and as you can see it is a very active scene."
The suspect was declared dead at Brigham & Women's Hospital, Evans said.
"All we know is the joint terrorism task force was on this guy and when they confronted him to speak with him he turned and came at the officers and unfortunately he was shot dead," Evans said.
Boston police Lt. Mike McCarthy said the suspect is of Middle Eastern descent and had been under surveillance "for weeks," including this morning.
Authorities are currently not releasing his identity, McCarthy said.
An eyewitness who declined to give his name said the suspect was armed with a knife and had a "scabbard" when he lunged at police and was shot.
Dozens of police officers have swarmed the small shopping plaza and officers are seeking surveillance video from a nearby Dunkin' Donuts, employees said.
The FBI agent and officer involved are being monitored for stress, Evans said.
"I'm leaving all comments to the FBI and the Boston Police Department," said Boston Mayor Martin J. Walsh, who is at the scene. "It's an ongoing investigation so I'm not going to comment."
Developing...
Laurel J. Sweet contributed.
Officers Kill Suspect Who Wielded Knife in Boston
By JESS BIDGOOD and DAVE PHILIPPS
New York Times
JUNE 2, 2015
BOSTON — A man under surveillance by antiterrorism investigators was shot and killed Tuesday by an F.B.I. agent and a Boston police officer after he waved a long black knife at them and refused to back down, officials said.
The man, Usaama Rahim, 26, was approached by officers outside a CVS pharmacy in the city’s Roslindale neighborhood around 7 a.m. Officials said he confronted them with a military-style knife and the two officers opened fire.
The Boston police commissioner, William Evans, said the officers asked Mr. Rahim several times to drop his weapon, and they felt endangered as he approached. “Unfortunately, we had to take his life.” Mr. Evans said the encounter had been captured on video, which he said, showed the officers retreating before opening fire. He said he believed Mr. Rahim had been shot once in the torso and once in the abdomen.
The officers approached Mr. Rahim seeking to question him, without their weapons drawn, Mr. Evans said, but he provided few other details about why Mr. Rahim was being pursued by the authorities.
Mr. Rahim was “wanted for some terrorist-related information we had received,” Mr. Evans said.
“We believed he was a threat,” Mr. Evans said. “He was someone we were watching for quite a time — constant dialogue between us and the F.B.I. The level of alarm brought us to question him today. I don’t think anyone expected the reaction we were going to get out of him.”
In a post on Facebook, Ibrahim Rahim, an imam from California, identified the dead man as his brother. He said his brother had been waiting for a bus when “he was confronted by three Boston Police officers and subsequently shot in the back three times.”
“He was on his cellphone with my dear father during the confrontation needing a witness,” he wrote on Facebook. “His last words to my father who heard the shots were: ‘I can’t breathe!’ ”
Usaama Rahim was taken to a hospital, where he died.
Records show that Mr. Rahim lived in Massachusetts before moving to Florida for several years, where he was a licensed security guard. The police said he most recently lived in Boston’s Roslindale neighborhood.
In 2013, he worked for about a month as a security guard at the Islamic Society of Boston Cultural Center, which includes a school and event space in addition to a mosque.
“Beyond that interaction, he did not pray regularly at the center, nor was he a volunteer or in any kind of leadership position,” said Cheri Andes, a spokeswoman for the center.
On Tuesday, the authorities raided a home in Everett, Mass., in connection with the case. Lt. Frank Hoenig, of the Everett Police Department, said the F.B.I. was leading the investigation and his department was supporting them.
Vincent B. Lisi, the special agent in charge of the F.B.I.’s Boston division, declined to comment on the details of the investigation, but said he believed there was no threat to public safety.
“Our investigation is still ongoing,” said Mr. Lisi.
The officer and the agent were not injured.
Ibrahim Hooper, a spokesman for the Council on American-Islamic Relations, a national advocacy group for American Muslims, said his group is monitoring developments in the investigation.
“We want to know what led to this confrontation this morning,” he said. “What was the probable cause that law enforcement had to stop this individual? Were they all in uniform? Could he have been startled thinking they were something other than law enforcement? There are a number of unanswered questions that need to be addressed.”
The two versions of the shooting, one told by the police and the other by Mr. Rahim’s family, also need to be reconciled, Mr. Hooper added.
“We want a transparent investigation,” he said, “and a revelation of the facts once that investigation is completed.”
Jess Bidgood reported from Boston, and Dave Philipps from New York. Ashley Southall contributed reporting from New York.
Officials: Video captured police, FBI shooting man
The Boston Globe
By Adam Vaccaro
Boston.com Staff | 06.02.15 | 4:45 PM
Boston Police Commissioner William Evans said video captured a Boston Police officer and FBI agent shooting a Roslindale man who was carrying a large knife Tuesday morning.
Evans said in a Tuesday afternoon press conference that video evidence shows that the man, identified as Usaama Rahim, who was being investigated by the FBI’s Joint Terrorism Task Force, was the aggressor in the situation. Rahim died after being shot twice, Evans said.
“We have video depicting the individual coming at the officers as the officers are retreating,” Evans said.
Suffolk County District Attorney Daniel Conley also said the video showed officers backing away when Rahim took out the knife.
A Boston Police spokesperson said the video came from a nearby business and that it could be released at the discretion of the Suffolk County District Attorney’s Office.
Jake Wark, a spokesperson for Conley, said releasing the video was “a decision that has to be made based on the totality of the circumstances in the case” and that such a decision could be made “in the coming days.”
Conley said Thursday that after an investigation into the incident is completed, the entire investigative file will be released to the public.
Rahim has been under watch for “some time,” Evans said. He said Rahim was approached Tuesday morning for questioning. There was not a warrant for his arrest, officials said Tuesday afternoon.
RI home searched in connection with Boston terror investigation
By Tim White and Nancy Krause
June 2, 2015, 4:00 pm
WARWICK, R.I. (WPRI) — The investigation into a man who was shot and killed in Boston as part of a terrorism investigation has stretched into Rhode Island, the Target 12 Investigators have learned.
As first reported on WPRI.com, agents from the FBI and investigators with the Rhode Island State Police have conducted the search of a home in Warwick’s Gaspee Point neighborhood as part of an ongoing anti-terror investigation.
A neighbor told Target 12 it was sometime between 9 a.m. and 10 a.m. when State Police and black SUVs converged on Aspinet Drive – blocking off the neighborhood for several hours.
Neighbor Brian Waterman said it appears they’re looking for a man in his mid-20s who lives across the street from him.
“I have not idea. I would believe they are looking for him because they asked where he was and looked around for a little bit,” said Waterman when asked if his neighbor was in custody. “There are cars lined up and down the street. In order to get down, you have to show your ID. That’s how I got in.”
It’s unclear which home was searched and both the State Police and FBI declined to comment, but a spokesperson for the Boston office of the FBI said there is no threat to public safety.
Target 12 has learned the scene in Warwick is connected to the shooting death of Usaama Rahim of Roslindale, 26.
Just after 7 a.m. Tuesday, investigators with the Joint Terrorism Task Force shot Rahim – who had been under 24-hour surveillance – after authorities say he lunged at them with a military-style knife.
“We believe he was a threat. He was someone we were watching for quite some time. The level of alarm brought us to question him today. No one expected the reaction we would get out of him.” said Boston Police Commissioner William Evans. “At some point, the individual came in close enough proximity that the officers were in danger. Their lives were in danger, when two officers discharged their weapons.”
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