ORLANDO, Fla./WASHINGTON, (Reuters) – A special Federal Bureau of Investigation team from Washington on Thursday began reviewing the death of a Chechen immigrant linked to the Boston Marathon bombing suspects, a day after he was shot and killed by an agent during questioning in Orlando.
The dead man, Ibragim Todashev, 27, was a friend of suspected bomber Tamerlan Tsarnaev and was under investigation for alleged ties to a triple homicide in Massachusetts in 2011, according to media reports citing law enforcement officials.
The FBI has made no official comment about the shooting since a brief statement on Wednesday morning when it said Todashev was killed after he suddenly attacked an agent during an interrogation at his Orlando condominium.
“We are not commenting on the incident at this time to ensure we don’t impact their (the review team’s) efforts,” an FBI spokesman said.
Todashev’s death was a bizarre twist in the Boston Marathon bombing investigation and it remained unclear what caused his alleged attack or what the main focus of the FBI’s questioning was.
Investigators believe Tsarnaev may also have been involved in the 2011 murders, but they added there is no evidence at this time connecting that crime with possible motives or activities leading up to the Boston bombings.
