News

Report: Agent who shot Tsarnaev's friend had troubled past

BOSTON (MyFoxBoston.com) -- A new report claims the FBI agent who fatally shot a friend of Boston Marathon bombing suspect Tamerlan Tsarnaev has a troubled past that includes internal affair investigations.

The agent who shot and killed Ibragim Todashev in Florida once worked at the police department in Oakland, Calif. According to the Boston Globe, during his time there, he pleaded the fifth at a police corruption trial. He was also reportedly the subject of two police brutality lawsuits and four internal affairs investigations.

He retired from the department in 2004 at age 31 and was later hired by the FBI. The FBI and both Massachusetts and Florida officials have refused to identify the officer, citing concerns for his safety.

FOX 25's Bob Ward has reported Todashev was being questioned last May in connection with a Waltham triple murder linked to Tsarnaev. Officials say Todashev was shot dead by the agent after flipping a table and threatening investigators with a weapon. His family insists he was unarmed at the time.

Lawyers in California who sued the FBI agent involved in the shooting while he worked as an Oakland officer say they were stunned the FBI hired him, claiming the events described in the lawsuit should have thrown up a red flag. Others say he was a fine officer in a struggling police department in one of the nation's most dangerous cities.

The Justice Department cleared the FBI agent in the shooting, but Todashev's family and civil liberties groups disagree. The Massachusetts chapter of the ACLU is suing the FBI and US Attorney Carmen Ortiz in hopes of uncovering new information related to the shooting.

To read more: bostonglobe.com