CAMBRIDGE, MASS. (WHDH) - New surveillance video shows the moments leading up to when a 20-year-old man was fatally shot during a confrontation with Cambridge police on Wednesday and friends and family are calling for an investigation into whether deadly force was necessary.
Officers responding to a 1:15 p.m. 911 call from a Cambridgesport resident who said they had witnessed a man jump out of the window of a neighboring apartment with a kukri knife and begin cutting himself with the weapon and broken glass, according to a joint statement issued by Middlesex District Attorney Marian Ryan and Cambridge Police Commissioner Christine Elow.
The man, later identified as Sayed Faisal, of Cambridge, was found bleeding in an alley behind a Sidney Street building.
A preliminary investigation suggests Faisal ran away with the knife, traveling several blocks in the Cambridgesport neighborhood before officers attempted to verbally engage with him on Chestnut Street, requesting that he put the knife down.
That’s when police say Faisal moved toward the officers while still in possession of the weapon.
An officer discharged a less-than-lethal sponge round in an attempt to de-escalate the situation. That round was unsuccessful in stopping Faisal.
He continued to advance towards officers in possession of the weapon. One officer discharged this department-issued firearm and struck Faisal. He was immediately rendered medical aid on the scene by officers until EMS arrived. Faisal was transported to Massachusetts General Hospital, where he later died.
On Thursday, family and friends of Faisal said he emigrated to the United States from Bangladesh and had been working at CVS while going to college and aspired to be a doctor or an engineer.
The Bangladesh Association of New England gathered at City Hall to call for justice, with members asking for an investigation into whether deadly force was necessary.
Anyone with information is asked to call police.
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