Man 'radicalized by ISIS-inspired social media messages' shot and killed by joint terrorism task force after allegedly pulling a 'military-style' knife on them in Boston

  • Usaama Rahim, 26, was shot and killed on Tuesday outside a CVS pharmacy in Boston at about 7.15 a.m.
  • Members of the Joint Terrorism Task Force say they approached Rahim and that he branished a 'military-style' knife at them 
  • He is alleged to have lunged at a police officer and FBI agent with the knife and they opened fire - shooting him in the torso and abdomen
  • His family have contradicted those claims and say he was on the phone to his father when he was shot three times in the back 
  • Rahim was being investigated by the task force after becoming radicalized by ISIS-inspired social media messages, report authorities 
  • Authorities later raided a home nearby in connection with the case

By David Mccormack For Dailymail.com and Associated Press Reporter

Published: 09:39 EST, 2 June 2015 | Updated: 16:54 EST, 2 June 2015

A man under 24-hour surveillance by terrorism investigators in Boston was shot and killed on Tuesday morning after he lunged at a city police officer and an FBI agent with a knife.  

The man, identified as 26-year-old Usaama Rahim, refused orders by the members of the Joint Terrorism Task Force to drop his 'military-style' knife before the officer and agent both opened fire. 

Rahim had confronted the investigators after they identified themselves as law enforcement and asked him to stop and talk outside a CVS pharmacy in the city's Roslindale neighborhood at about 7 a.m.

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A photograph of Rahim's 'military-style' knife was put on display during a press conference on Tuesday afternoon

Usaama Rahim, under surveillance by terrorism investigators in Boston, was shot and killed on Tuesday morning after he allegedly lunged at a cop and an FBI agent with a knife outside a CVS pharmacy

Usaama Rahim, under surveillance by terrorism investigators in Boston, was shot and killed on Tuesday morning after he allegedly lunged at a cop and an FBI agent with a knife outside a CVS pharmacy

Rahim's family are contradicting the authorities' claims and say he was on the phone to his father when he was shot three times in the back 

Rahim's family are contradicting the authorities' claims and say he was on the phone to his father when he was shot three times in the back 

Rahim was approached as part of an 'investigation that's been going on for some time by the Joint Terrorism Task Force,' Boston Police Commissioner William Evans said at a news conference on Tuesday afternoon.

Evans said, 'We believed he was a threat. He was someone we were watching for quite a time. The level of alarm brought us to question him today. I don't think anybody expected the reaction we got out of him.' 

Confirmation of the dead man's name had come earlier from the Council of American-Islamic Relations.

Spokesperson Ibrahim Hooper said his organization had spoken to Rahim's older brother, Imam Ibrahim Rahim, who had confirmed the death. 

The elder Rahim wrote in a Facebook post that his brother was shot three times in the back while waiting at a bus stop to go to work.  

'I can't breathe': Usaama Rahim's elder brother Ibrahim wrote in a Facebook post that his brother was waiting at a bus stop to go to work on Tuesday morning when he was confronted

'I can't breathe': Usaama Rahim's elder brother Ibrahim wrote in a Facebook post that his brother was waiting at a bus stop to go to work on Tuesday morning when he was confronted

According to the family, Rahim was on the phone with his father who heard the shots and his last words were 'I can't breathe.' 

'We are deeply grieved by the loss of my younger brother,' wrote Ibrahim in another post. He is an imam at a mosque in the Boston area.

Law enforcement officials refuted that allegation at Tuesday's press conference. 

Commissioner Evans said Rahim was shot twice - in the torso and the abdomen - and that there is surveillance footage to back up that version of events.

'The officers asked him several times to put that knife down. They gave him several commands. The officers tried their best, repeating. Again, several more orders to put down. And at that point, he came within the proximity that the officers used deadly force,' he said.

Officials said the officer and agent had been investigating whether the Rahim had become radicalized by ISIS-inspired social media messages, reports NBC News.  

Rahim was being investigated by the task force following a tip-off that he had become radicalized by ISIS-inspired social media messages

Rahim was being investigated by the task force following a tip-off that he had become radicalized by ISIS-inspired social media messages

Law enforcement officials in Boston held a press conference on Tuesday afternoon during which it was stated that Rahim had been shot twice - in the torso and abdomen - and that there is surveillance footage of the incident

On Tuesday afternoon, authorities raided a home in Everett in connection with the case.

Vincent Lisi, head of the Boston FBI, would not disclose any specifics of why Rahim was being investigated.

'I can tell you that our investigation is still ongoing. There's a lot more for us to do.' He would not comment on whether others are being looked at in the investigation,' he told The Boston Globe.

He said Rahim was considered 'armed and dangerous' at the time when he was confronted, but 'we don't think there's any concern for public safety right now' from other suspects.

In recent months, ISIS messages worldwide have called for attacks using whatever weapons are at hand, including guns and knives.

Federal and local sources stressed they did not believe there was a threat to the general public at this time.

The officer and the agent were also evaluated at the hospital for what Evans described as 'stress,' though they were not physically injured. 

Police vehicles sit in front of a multi-storied home on Tuesday in Everett, Mass., being searched by authorities in connection with a man shot and killed earlier in the day in Boston

Police vehicles sit in front of a multi-storied home on Tuesday in Everett, Mass., being searched by authorities in connection with a man shot and killed earlier in the day in Boston

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