Reports detail killing of bomber’s friend

Associated Press

ORLANDO, Fla.

Fearing imminent arrest in a triple slaying, Ibragim Todashev started acting suspiciously. His mood, once cooperative with investigators, became agitated. His eyes darted around his small apartment in Florida, as if he were looking for a weapon or a way out.

As Todashev wrote a statement about his role in the 2011 killings in Waltham, Mass. — slayings that received renewed attention after the Boston Marathon bombing — a state trooper sent an ominous text message: “Be on guard. He is in vulnerable position to do something bad. Be on guard now.”

Moments later, Todashev, a friend of one of the Boston marathon bombing suspects, flipped a coffee table in the air, knocking down an FBI agent in the room and causing a gash on his head. Todashev then grabbed a broomstick or mop handle and charged toward the Massachusetts trooper. The FBI agent shot Todashev several times, killing him last May, according to two reports Tuesday that provided the first clear picture of the shooting and cleared the agent of any charges.

In the Florida report, prosecutor Jeff Ashton noted Todashev’s experience as a mixed-martial-arts fighter.

“The one common thread among all was the observation that he was, at his core, a fearless fighter,” Ashton said in a letter to FBI Director James Comey.

Separately, the Justice Department echoed the Florida findings.