BOSTON (WHDH) - A Boston police officer and FBI agent will not face any charges after shooting and killing a terror suspect in Roslindale in 2015.
Suffolk County District Attorney Dan Conley said the shooting was justified.
Police said the man, Usaamah Rahim, had ties to ISIS and was plotting a terror attack.
“The overwhelming evidence gathered and analyzed during the course of the past year proved beyond any reasonable doubt that Mr. Rahim was armed with a large, military-style knife and posed the threat of death or serious injury to the Task Force officers at the time of the shooting,” Conley said Wednesday.
Conley said their use of force is considered self-defense and did not constitute a crime under state law.
The DA met with Rahim’s family to explain why no charges would be filed and included full transcripts of the investigative file into the incident. The file included 770 pages of documentation and more than 370 images.
Conley said his investigation revealed that on June 2, 2015, the Joint Terrorism Task Force was surveilling Rahim was part of an investigation into his ties to ISIS, specifically plans to commit crimes of terror in the United States, targeting a person in New York City for a beheading at the instruction of an ISIS militant.
The task force listened to a recorded phone call in which Rahim said he had abandoned his plan to travel to New York City and instead planned an attack against police officers in Boston.
“It was clear from this recorded conversation that Mr. Rahim did not expect to survive the attack,” Conley said .
Just after 7 a.m., Rahim left his Roslindale apartment and walked to a bus stop. Officers, who were aware that he may have targeted a crowded area like an MBTA bus or train station, approached him on foot.
According to the investigation, when officers asked Rahim to put his hands up, he drew a large sword. Officers then drew their firearms and ordered him to drop the knife. He refused the orders and advanced on the officers, who backed away. When Rahim did not drop his weapon, on Boston Police officer fired one round at him, and an FBI agent fired two. EMTs treated Rahim on the scene and rushed him to Brigham and Women’s Hospital, where he died of his injuries.
Conley did not identify members of the task forces, as that could put them at risk.
Rahim’s family said they were grateful to the DA’s office for being so open during the investigation, but were not happy with the “narrow scope” of the investigation.
“From the beginning, we have raised a set of broader concerns that appear to be beyond the scope of the DA’s investigation. Specifically, we have asserted that Usaamah was the subject of an illegal arrest,” the family said Wednesday afternoon.
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