ORLANDO, Fla. (AP) — A Chechen immigrant who was being questioned about his ties to one of the Boston Marathon bombing suspects was shot to death by authorities early Wednesday after he lunged at an FBI agent with a knife, officials said.
Ibragim Todashev, a 27-year-old mixed martial arts fighter, was gunned down at his Orlando home during a meeting with the agent and two Massachusetts state troopers, authorities said. The agent was taken to a hospital with injuries that were not life-threatening.
The FBI gave no details on why they were interested in Todashev except to say that he was being questioned as part of the Boston investigation. But some of his former roommates said that Todashev knew one of the Boston bombing suspects, Tamerlan Tsarnaev, from mixed martial arts fighting in Boston and that the FBI was asking about him.
Public records show Todashev lived in Watertown, Mass., just outside Boston, last year.