The Chechen man killed by an FBI agent while being questioned about his relationship with Boston Bombing suspect Tamerlan Tsarnaev had knocked the agent to the ground and ran at him with a metal pole before being shot, a senior law enforcement official briefed on the matter told The New York Times.
The official account came hours after the father of Ibragim Todashev presented photographs of his son’s bullet-ridden body and accused U.S. officials of murdering his son.
Abdulbaki Todashev claimed that his son was unarmed when he was shot seven times on May 22, in what was his third meeting with law enforcement.
An FBI agent from Boston and two detectives from the Massachusetts State Police had been interviewing Todashev at his Orlando, Florida, apartment for several hours about his possible involvement in a triple homicide in Waltham, Mass. in 2011.
The law enforcement official told the Times that the shooting occurred after Todashev acknowledged involvement in the murder and implicated Tsarnaev to the FBI agent and one of the detective.
As the 27-year-old began writing a statement admitting his involvement, the official said, he flipped the table and knocked the FBI agent to the ground.
From The New York Times:
While trying to stand up, the agent, who suffered a wound to his face from the table that required stitches, drew his gun and saw Mr. Todashev running at him with a metal pole, according to the official, adding that it might have been a broomstick.
The official added that the agent fired shot Todashev several times, knocking him backward, and fired several more shots when Todashev charged again.
Previously, unnamed officials told The Washington Post that Todashev was unarmed, as opposed to having a knife as initially reported, and that he was alone with the FBI agent when the shooting occurred.
Todashev's family is calling for an independent investigation.
“I have questions for the Americans,” Zaurbek Sadakhanov, a lawyer who has worked with the Todashev family as well as the Tsarnaev family, said at a Moscow press conference on Thursday. “Why was he questioned for the third time without a lawyer? Why wasn’t Ibragim’s questioning recorded on audio or videotape, seeing as he was being questioned without a lawyer? What was the need to shoot Ibragim seven times, when five fully equipped police officers with stun guns were against him?”
SEE ALSO: Previously reported details of the incident
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