FBI agent 'was justified in shooting Tsarnaev friend dead' because he attacked him with a pole after admitting Tamerlan 'had killed drug dealers', says prosecutor

  • FBI agents killed Ibragim Todashev in Orlando in May when they went to question him about ties to the Boston Marathon bombers
  • A new report released Tuesday tells that Todashev, a Chechen martial arts fighter, attacked them with a pole and was shot seven times by FBI agent
  • Todashev, 27, reportedly admitted that he and Tamerlan, the elder Tsarnaev brother, were involved in an unsolved 2011 triple murder

By Daily Mail Reporter


A Florida prosecutor has revealed that a friend of one of the Boston marathon suspects threatened an FBI agent and a Massachusetts state trooper with a long pole before being fatally shot in self defense

Ibragim Todashev, 27, had apparently confessed that he and Tamerlan Tsarnaev, the elder of the two Chechen brothers who planned the fatal bombing at the finish line of the Boston Marathon, had also been involved in an unsolved 2011 triple murder.

State Attorney Jeff Ashton said in a report Tuesday the agent was justified in shooting Todashev last May.

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Final moments: Ibragim Todashev (pictured) admitted to having been involved in an unsolved 2011 triple homicide along with Tamerlan Tsarnaev before being shot by FBI agents

Final moments: Ibragim Todashev (pictured) admitted to having been involved in an unsolved 2011 triple homicide along with Tamerlan Tsarnaev before being shot by FBI agents

Questioning: The FBI and Florida state prosecutor had remained tight-lipped in relation to the May 2013 shooting until their final report was released today, explaining the questioning of Todashev (pictured)

Questioning: The FBI and Florida state prosecutor had remained tight-lipped in relation to the May 2013 shooting until their final report was released today, explaining the questioning of Todashev (pictured)

Damage: A report released Tuesday shows the injury an FBI agent sustained during the May altercation (left) and the blood left on the agent's shirt (right)

Damage: A report released Tuesday shows the injury an FBI agent sustained during the May altercation (left) and the blood left on the agent's shirt (right)

Killed: Ibragim Todashev, 27, was shot and killed by FBI agents in May, more than a month after the Boston Marathon bombing

Killed: Ibragim Todashev, 27, was shot and killed by FBI agents in May, more than a month after the Boston Marathon bombing

The agent and the trooper were questioning Todashev about his involvement in a triple slaying in Waltham, Massachusetts.

Todashev was preparing a written statement confessing some involvement when he threw a coffee table on the officers and ran past them.

The report says Todashev was searching for something in his kitchen, and he returned carrying a pole over his head.

The Boston Globe reports that he was then shot seven times by the agent.

The report released Tuesday was the first official filing that gives details of the killing that happened 10 months ago.

The FBI agent fired three or four shots at Todashev, a mixed martial arts fighter, as he advanced on the trooper and Todashev dropped to his knees but then lunged at the officer. The FBI agent fired three or four more shots, the report said.

'The one common thread among all was the observation that he was, at his core, a fearless fighter,' Ashton said.

Cleared: Florida prosecutors have chosen not to pursue charges against FBI agents involved in the killing (seen in May after his death)

Cleared: Florida prosecutors have chosen not to pursue charges against FBI agents involved in the killing (seen in May after his death)

The brothers Tsarnaev: Tamerlan (left) died in a gunbattle with police in the days after the Boston bombing and Dzhokhar (right) faces 30 federal charges that carry the possibility of the death penalty
The brothers Tsarnaev: Tamerlan (left) died in a gunbattle with police in the days after the Boston bombing and Dzhokhar (right) faces 30 federal charges that carry the possibility of the death penalty

The brothers Tsarnaev: Tamerlan (left) died in a gunbattle with police in the days after the Boston bombing and Dzhokhar (right) faces 30 federal charges that carry the possibility of the death penalty

Scene: The one year anniversary of the Boston Marathon bombing is approaching next month

Scene: The one year anniversary of the Boston Marathon bombing is approaching next month

Victim: Brendan Mess was one of three victims in a triple slaying that Todashev allegedly confessed to police that he and Tsarnaev had committed in September 2011

Victim: Brendan Mess was one of three victims in a triple slaying that Todashev allegedly confessed to police that he and Tsarnaev had committed in September 2011

'Perhaps on this occasion, he simply reverted to that basic aspect of his personality and chose to go down fighting.'

In the Waltham case, three men were found in an apartment with their necks slit and their bodies reportedly covered with marijuana.

One of the victims was a boxer and friend of Tamerlan Tsarnaev, one of the suspects in last year's Boston marathon bombing.

 

Tsarnaev and Todashev were friends from their days when Todashev lived in Boston.

Todashev's family have raised doubts about the account provided by law enforcement, saying that Todashev was recovering from knee surgery and was limping at the time he was killed.

Hassan Shibly, executive director of the Council on American-Islamic Relations in Tampa, which is conducting its own investigation into the fatal shooting, said Ashton's investigative focus was very narrow.

'It's very important that this isn't whether the agent was justified in shooting,' Shibly said.

'It's about the pattern of abuse that occurred before, during and after the questioning. That won't be covered in a criminal investigation.'

Raphael Teken (left with friend) was one of three people along with Erik Weissman (right) and Brendan Mess who were murdered in a Boston apartment in September 2011
Raphael Teken (left with friend) was one of three people along with Erik Weissman (right) and Brendan Mess who were murdered in a Boston apartment in September 2011

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