– Ibragim Todashev Unarmed When FBI Agent Shot And Killed Him: Report (Huffington Post, May 29, 2013):
The man killed by an FBI agent during questioning about his relationship with one of the Boston Marathon bombing suspects was unarmed when the agent shot him, law enforcement officials told the Washington Post.
Ibragim Todashev, 27, was interrogated for hours on May 22 in Orlando, Fla., regarding his connection with Tamerlan Tsarnaev, who died during a shootout with police days after the bombing.
Law enforcement officials initially told ABC News that, Todashev “just went crazy,” brandishing a knife and stabbing the FBI agent.
An unnamed source contradicted that account, however, telling the Washington Post today that Todashev had no weapon. But Todashev did flip over the table and lunge at the FBI agent, the source said.
A statement released by the FBI on Tuesday is scarce on details:
The agent, two Massachusetts State Police troopers, and other law enforcement personnel were interviewing an individual in connection with the Boston Marathon bombing investigation when a violent confrontation was initiated by the individual. During the confrontation, the individual was killed and the agent sustained non-life threatening injuries.
The bureau is “currently reviewing” the shooting incident, according to the statement.
Sources with “direct knowledge of the case” also told ABC News that Todashev was “about to sign a statement” confessing that he and Tamerlan Tsarnaev had been involved in the murder of three Massachusetts men in 2011. Police say Todashev knew Tamerlan Tsarnaev, the older of the two bombing suspects, through their participation in Mixed Martial Arts.
CBS reported that authorities have no evidence linking Todashev to the Boston Marathon attack, which left three dead and more than 200 injured.
Tamerlan Tsarnaev’s younger brother Dzhokhar Tsarnaev was captured by police and awaits charges stemming from the attack.