A man who has been linked to Tamerlan Tsarnaev, the older suspect in the Boston Marathon bombings from last month, was shot and killed during an FBI-involved shootout in Orlando, FL early this morning.
According to CBS News, the man, who was identified as Ibrahim Todashev, was a friend of Tsarnaev, the suspect who was killed in a shootout with police days after the bombing last month. The FBI hasn’t commented further on Todashev’s relationship with Tsarnaev.
An FBI agent went to Todashev’s apartment building just after midnight Wednesday morning. CBS News senior correspondent John Miller reported that the FBI had been looking at Rodashev since Tsarnaev was identified as a suspect in the deadly bombings. The agent had gone there to question Todashev, but the interview went awry.
Khusen Taramov, a friend of Todashev’s, told Orlando’s WFTV that Todashev was planning to fly to New York, then take a flight home. Taramov claimed that the FBI had tried to stop Todashev from taking the trip so they could interview him again. When asked if he thought Todashev would provoke a shootout, Taramov commented, “No, there is no way. I know that for sure. All he wanted was to talk to them so they could leave him alone.”
According to CNN, the FBI would only say that the agent killed the suspect “while conducting official duties.” The bureau did not release any other details.