Friend of Tamerlan Tsarnaev shot dead by FBI after 'pulling a knife as he prepared to sign a confession to 2011 triple homicide'

• Ibragim Todashev, 27, reportedly turned violent during an interview with an FBI agent
  
• He was being interviewed over his ties to Boston bombing suspect Tamerlan Tsarnaev
• Todashev, from Chechnya, was shot dead by the agent just after midnight Wednesday
• He had reportedly confessed to the FBI that he played a role in a brutal triple slaying in the Boston area in 2011
  
• Todashev had met Tsarnaev while he was living in Boston and last spoke him about a week before the bombing
  
• He was arrested on May 4 in an unrelated incident after he knocked a man unconscious in a fight over a parking space
  

By Hayley Peterson

PUBLISHED: 07:03 EST, 22 May 2013 | UPDATED: 12:45 EST, 22 May 2013

Deceased: Ibragim Todashev was fatally shot by an FBI agent just after midnight on Wednesday

An FBI agent fatally shot a Chechen man in Orlando, Florida early Wednesday after the man allegedly turned violent as he was preparing to sign a written confession to his involvement in a 2011 triple homicide, according to authorities.

Ibragim Todashev, 27, was shot dead at his condo near Universal Studios just after midnight, FBI Special Agent Dave Couvertier confirmed to MailOnline.

He was being interviewed by the agent over his ties to Boston Marathon bombing suspect Tamerlan Tsarnaev when he allegedly turned violent and pulled a knife on the agent.

'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 FBI said in a statement. 'During the confrontation, the individual was killed and the agent sustained non-life threatening injuries.'

Investigators said Todashev is not suspected of playing a role in the bombings, but that he had confessed to being involved a gruesome triple slaying in 2011.

No suspects had been arrested in that case, in which three men were found in an apartment in Waltham, Mass. on Sept. 11, 2011 with their throats cut and marijuana covering their bodies.

Confession: Todashev had allegedly admitted to being involved in a 2011 slaying and that he was preparing to sign a written statement based on his confession when he turned violent and was subsequently shot dead

Investigation: An FBI evidence response team enters an apartment after an FBI agent shot and killed a man who was questioned in connection with the Boston Marathon bombings

Crime scene: Investigators stand outside the apartment complex where Todashev was fatally shot

Todashev met Tsarnaev while he was living in Boston because they were both involved in mixed martial arts and boxing

Massachusetts investigators had reported earlier this month that they were uncovering 'mounting evidence' that Tsarnaev and his younger brother, Dzhokhar, were involved in the slaying. One of the victims, Brendan Mess, was a close friend of Tamerlan's.

Officials told NBC that Todashev had admitted to being involved in the slaying and that he was preparing to sign a written statement based on his confession when he turned violent and was subsequently shot dead. The officials also told NBC that Todashev had some connections with radical Chechen rebels.

The FBI has been investigating Todashev for the last month and has questioned him several times regarding his ties to 26-year-old Tamerlan Tsarnaev, who was killed by police in a shootout following the deadly April 15 marathon bombings. Dzhokhar Tsarnaev, 19, has been charged in connection with the bombings and is being held at a prison medical center outside Boston.

Khusn Taramiv, a friend of Todashev's, confirmed that he knew Tsarnaev and that Todashev had been in contact with him via phone or Skype about a week before the bombings.

FBI shoot dead Boston bomber friend

Friend: Todashev's friend, Khusn Taramiv, ays the FBI had been following him and Todashev since the bombings

Shortly before the shooting, Todashev 'had a bad feeling. He felt there's going to be a set-up against him,' a friend said

An FBI investigator walks to the apartment where Todashev was shot by an FBI agent

In an interview with Orlando television station WESH, he said that the two met while Todashev was living in Boston because they were both involved in mixed martial arts and boxing.

Todashev 'wasn't like real close friends [with Tsarnaev], but he just happened to know him,' Taramov said. 'But he had no idea that they were up to something like that, like bombings and everything, you know what I mean?'

Taramiv says the FBI has been following him and Todashev since the bombings. He said that they were both being interviewed by agents late Monday before Todashev was killed.

He claims his friend is innocent and that he has been targeted by authorities because he is a Muslim.

'He was just a Muslim - that was his mistake, I guess,' Taramiv, also a Muslim, told WESH. He said his friend is not an extremist and doesn't believe he owned a gun.

The FBI had questioned Todashev in the past regarding his ties to Tamerlan Tsarnaev (right). Tsarnaev's younger brother, Dzhokhar, (left), has been charged in connection with the bombings

Blasts: The April 15 explosions near the finish line of the Boston Marathon killed three people and injured more than 240

Shortly before the shooting, Todashev 'had a bad feeling. He felt there's going to be a set-up against him,' Taramiv said.

Victim: Brendan Mess was one of three victims in a triple slaying that Todashev allegedly confessed to

Todashev gave him phone numbers for his mother and father late Monday just in case he got 'locked up.'

'We had a feeling that a worse-case scenario, that something like [a shooting] is going to happen,' Taramiv told the television station.

Todashev was arrested in an unrelated incident on May 4 for aggravated battery after he left a man unconscious in the parking lot of a shopping mall.

According to the arrest affidavit, Todashev had gotten into an altercation with a man and his son over parking space.

Todashev told police that the man 'got into his face' so he pushed him and then the man's son 'got involved' and Todashev began fighting him.

'Todashev said he was only fighting to protect his knee because he had surgery in March,' the affidavit states.

A mall security officer arrived on scene to find the son unconscious and lying in a pool of blood on the ground just as Todashev was pulling away in a white Mercedes.

The officer chased down the Mercedes, ordered Todashev out at gunpoint and arrested him.

The son was later treated at a hospital with a split upper lip, several teeth knocked out and head injuries.

Murdered: Raphael Teken (left with a friend) and Erik Weissman (right) were also killed in the 2011 triple slaying