The Middle Eastern man shot and killed by counterterrorism agents in Boston Tuesday was allegedly planning to behead a police officer.
The man–26-year-old Usaama Rahim–was holding a “large military-style black knife” at the time.
Breitbart News reported that the man was shot after refusing to comply with orders from law enforcement. Boston police commissioner William Evans said:
He was on foot, under surveillance. The officers have been surveilling him and again they wanted to speak to him… and he turned and our officers gave several commands for him to drop the weapon and unfortunately he came at the officers and they did what they were trained to do and that’s never an easy decision for any officer to make.
The Boston Globe now reports that the man allegedly intended “to behead a police officer.” He had been “under 24-hour surveillance” in the time leading up to his death.
An unnamed official said, “We believe the intent was to behead a police officer. We knew the plot had to be stopped.” The official suggested the beheading was supposed to take place on Tuesday, June 2, which is why agents moved in to stop the man.
More details are expected to emerge after a second suspect, David Wright, appears in court today at 3:30 pm.
Follow AWR Hawkins on Twitter @AWRHawkins. Reach him directly awrhawkins@breitbart.com.
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