Two explosions went off near the finish line of the 117th Boston Marathon on April 15.
Credit: Getty Images
An FBI agent shot and killed a Florida man who the agency claimed turned violent while being questioned about the Boston Marathon bombings early on Wednesday, the bureau said.
A statement from the FBI’s Boston division said the shooting took place early wednesday morning in Orlando, Fla.
“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,” the statement read. “During the confrontation, the individual was killed and the agent sustained nonlife-threatening injuries.”
Friends said the man, who they identified as Ibragim Todashev, 27, was originally from Chechnya and met bombing suspect Tamerlan Tsarnaev while living in Boston.
Khusn Taramov, a friend of Todashev, told WKMG-TV in Orlando that Todashev and Tsarnaev shared an interest in boxing and mixed martial arts.
Taramov said he and Todashev were both questioned by authorities for several hours on Tuesday, and that Todashev planned to leave Florida.
“We had a feeling that a worst case scenario, that something like (a shooting) is going to happen,” Taramov said. “He had a ticket to New York. From there, he was going to go home. [The FBI was] pushing him to stay, saying, ‘We want to interview one last time.'”
Taramov said Todashev was not involved in the April 15 bombings, which killed three people and injured 264 others.
Tsarnaev was killed in a police shootout three days after the blasts, after allegedly killing an MIT police officer.
His brother, Dzhokhar, is being held on terrorism charges at a federal medical facility and could receive the death penalty if convicted.
The Orange County Sheriff’s Office said Todashev had been arrested on May 4 and charged with aggravated battery with great bodily harm. Details about the circumstances of the arrest were not immediately available.
With additional reporting by Reuters. Follow Metro Boston on Twitter: @MetroBos
