Police shoot man under surveillance in Boston

By Alexandra Cowley
acowley@abc6.com

A man under surveillance by terrorism investigators was shot and killed by police in a CVS parking lot in Boston Tuesday.

The 26-year-old suspect was approached by the FBI and Boston Police Officers this morning for questioning related to terrorist information.

In a press conference this afternoon, Boston Police Commissioner William Evans said Usaama Rahim was a known suspect under surveillance for some time by the Joint Terrorism Task Force.

Commisioner Evans says Boston Police and the FBI approached Rahim just after 7 a.m. Tuesday morning in the CVS parking lot in Roslindale to question him about “terrorist-related information” and his intentions on other matters.

Evans would not confirm if Rahim had plotted to attack law enforcement officers, but did say he was considered armed and dangerous. When confronted, Evans says Rahim pulled out a military-style knife and would not put it down when asked several times to drop the weapon. When Rahim got too close, both a Boston Police Officer and an FBI agent fired at him, shooting him twice.

“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, and that’s why we had the tragic turnout here,” said Commissioner Evans.

Rhim’s older brother, Ibrahim Rahim, is an Imam in Boston and posted this to his Facebook page after this morning’s shooting, “Your prayers are requested, this morning while at the bus stop in Boston, my youngest brother Usaama Rahim, was waiting for the bus to go to his job. He was confronted by Boston Police Officers and subsequently shot in the back three times.” He continues to say, “He [Usaama] was on his cell phone with my dear father during the confrontation needing a witness, his last words to my father, who heard the shots, were, ‘I can’t breathe.’”

Commissioner Evans said today Rahim was shot in the abdomen and torso, and that surveillance video confirms the officers account of what happened.

The FBI wouldn’t comment on their investigation, which included a search of Rahim’s apartment as well as a home in Everett. They did, however, say that there was no concern for public safety.

ABC6 News has also learned that Usaama Rahim has at least one relative here in Providence.

We spoke with a woman on Diamond Street who told us she is related to Rahim. Behind a closed door, she said, “It’s a very sad situation right now, it’s terrible. That’s all I have to say. No comment.”

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