Orlando, Fla. – A man fatally shot overnight by an FBI agent in Orlando was being investigated for a possible connection to the Boston bombings, a U.S. law enforcement official with direct knowledge of the Boston Marathon case told CNN.
The man who was shot, Ibragim Todashev, knew both of the Tsarnaev brothers, Tamerlan and Dzhokhar, the official said.
The agent shot in self-defense in an incident at Todashev’s house, the official said.
Agents were led to Todashev, who had once lived in Boston, “through investigative leads,” the official said.
Todashev was from the Chechnya region, as were the Tsarnaev brothers. He had been living in the United States as a legal resident since approximately 2008, the source said.
The source added that the FBI had been investigating Todashev for about a month; the bombings occurred on April 15.
The FBI had followed Todashev for days, his friend told CNN affiliate Florida News 13.
Khasuen Taramov told the TV station that Todashev was living in Boston a couple of years ago when he knew Tsarnaev; the FBI began questioning and following Todashev and Taramov after the deadly Boston Marathon bombings.
Todashev “wasn’t like real close friends (with Tsarnaev), but he just happened to know him,” Todashev said. “But he had no idea that they were up to something like that, like bombings and everything, you know what I mean?”
An FBI post-shooting incident review team was expected to depart Washington and arrive within 24 hours in Orlando, said Special Agent Dave Couvertier, an FBI spokesman. Such reviews are standard when an agent is involved in a shooting.
Todashev was arrested earlier this month on charges of aggravated battery, according to WESH.
