Boston police officers and detectives investigate the scene of a shooting in Roslindale, Mass.
Police said they have video showing a man who was under 24-hour surveillance by terrorism investigators lunging with a knife at a Boston police officer and an FBI agent before he was shot and killed — an account his brother has disputed.
A law enforcement official with knowledge of the investigation said Usaama Rahim had been making threats against law enforcement. The official was not authorized to release details of the investigation and spoke on the condition of anonymity.
Police Commissioner William Evans said members of the Joint Terrorism Task Force approached Rahim Tuesday morning to question him about “terrorist-related information” when he went at officers with a large military-style knife.
Evans said officers repeatedly ordered Rahim to drop the knife but he continued to move toward them with it. He said task force members fired their guns, hitting Rahim once in the torso and once in the abdomen. Rahim, 26, was taken to a hospital but died.
Late Tuesday (yesterday), the FBI arrested a man in connection with the case. Christina DiIorio-Sterling, a spokeswoman for U.S. Attorney Carmen Ortiz, said David Wright was taken into custody and was expected to appear in court yesterday.
DiIorio-Sterling wouldn’t specify the charges, but confirmed they’re related to the Rahim investigation.
Evans said authorities had been watching Rahim “for quite a time,” but “a level of alarm” prompted them to try to question him Tuesday.
He said authorities knew Rahim “had some extremism as far as his views,” but he would not confirm media reports that Rahim had been radicalized by online propaganda by the Islamic State group.
Evans said the officers didn’t have their guns drawn when they approached Rahim. He said the video shows Rahim “coming at officers” while they were backing away.
That description differs from one given by Rahim’s brother Ibrahim Rahim, who posted on Facebook that his youngest brother was killed while waiting at a bus stop to go to his job.
“He was confronted by three Boston Police officers and subsequently shot in the back three times,” he wrote. “He was on his cellphone with my dear father during the confrontation needing a witness.”
Ibrahim Rahim, a former assistant imam at a Boston mosque, could not be reached for more comment Tuesday. In an email, he said he was traveling to Boston to bury his brother.
The Council of American-Islamic Relations will monitor the investigation, spokesman Ibrahim Hooper said. Denise Lavoie, Legal Affairs Writer, Boston, AP
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