A Florida man was shot and killed when he became violent while being questioned by Boston bombing investigators, FBI officials say.

The shooting took place early on Wednesday as officials interviewed 27-year-old Ibragim Todashev.

The FBI initially said their agent had killed Todashev, but an updated statement left unclear the question of who had fired the deadly shot.

Two Massachusetts State Police officers were also in the room, the FBI said.

The FBI agent was taken to a hospital with non-life threatening injuries, and an agency team has been dispatched to review the shooting, standard procedure in such cases.

US media reported that Todashev had known Tamerlan Tsarnaev, the Boston bombings suspect killed in a shootout with police days after last month's deadly marathon blasts.

Todashev was a mixed-martial arts fighter who, like Tsarnaev, had links to the Russian republic of Chechnya, according to reports.

A friend of the dead man, Khusen Taramov, told Florida News 13 that the FBI had begun questioning and following Todashev soon after the Boston bombings.

Mr Taramov was quoted as saying: "One day they started questioning us, next day after the bombing, not the bombing, after they found out the bombers were Chechnyans, and they started following us, watching us."

He told the news station that the FBI had pressured Todashev into cancelling a plane ticket to Chechnya that he bought before the Boston bombings.

The Associated Press news agency meanwhile reports that Todashev was arrested earlier this month on suspicion of assault, after a dispute over a parking spot at an Orlando shopping centre.

Todashev put a man in hospital with facial injuries during the fracas, according to a report from the Orange County Sheriff's Office.

The Boston Marathon blasts killed three people and injured 264 others on 15 April.

Tsarnaev's brother, Dzhokhar Tsarnaev, 19, is being held in a prison hospital after being shot before capture. He faces the death penalty if convicted.

 Dreadclaw69 wrote:
Todashev was a mixed-martial arts fighter who, like Tsarnaev, had links to the Russian republic of Chechnya, according to reports.

 AlexHolker wrote:

 Dreadclaw69 wrote:
Todashev was a mixed-martial arts fighter who, like Tsarnaev, had links to the Russian republic of Chechnya, according to reports.

Is there any way to read that that isn't horribly racist?

"So, Mr. Schwarzenegger, I understand you're from Austria. You know who else was from Austria? Hitler!"

 AlexHolker wrote:

 Dreadclaw69 wrote:
Todashev was a mixed-martial arts fighter who, like Tsarnaev, had links to the Russian republic of Chechnya, according to reports.

Is there any way to read that that isn't horribly racist?

"So, Mr. Schwarzenegger, I understand you're from Austria. You know who else was from Austria? Hitler!"

 Jihadin wrote:
Because we're targeting his friends that are Chechyen...Both bombers Chechyen.....friends are Chechyen.....yep...we're racist....can go all out and deny refugee status to all Chechyens to complete the hidden agenda

 AlexHolker wrote:

 Dreadclaw69 wrote:
Todashev was a mixed-martial arts fighter who, like Tsarnaev, had links to the Russian republic of Chechnya, according to reports.

Is there any way to read that that isn't horribly racist?

"So, Mr. Schwarzenegger, I understand you're from Austria. You know who else was from Austria? Hitler!"

 djones520 wrote:
As for the story... I'm very curious to find out what had occured that prompted the use of a fire arm, when you had 3-4 law enforcement officers present in an interrogation type scenario. I'm not saying this was unjustified, I'd just like to know how it was.

 Dreadclaw69 wrote:

 djones520 wrote:
As for the story... I'm very curious to find out what had occured that prompted the use of a fire arm, when you had 3-4 law enforcement officers present in an interrogation type scenario. I'm not saying this was unjustified, I'd just like to know how it was.

If I was to speculate it said that a law enforcement agent was taken to hospital, seeing as the incident occurred in a house and likely close quarters perhaps a knife or other weapon was used

Experiment 626 wrote:

 Dreadclaw69 wrote:

 djones520 wrote:
As for the story... I'm very curious to find out what had occured that prompted the use of a fire arm, when you had 3-4 law enforcement officers present in an interrogation type scenario. I'm not saying this was unjustified, I'd just like to know how it was.

If I was to speculate it said that a law enforcement agent was taken to hospital, seeing as the incident occurred in a house and likely close quarters perhaps a knife or other weapon was used

If the dude was a mixed martial arts fighter, I think his fists & feet are lethal enough to warrant officers feeling the need to shot him if things got out of hand/ violent...

A former mixed martial arts fighter who was fatally shot by an FBI agent in Florida following a "violent confrontation" knew one of the Boston Marathon bombers and was being questioned about an unsolved triple homicide that may be linked to him, according to reports.

Ibragim Todashev, who was shot and killed early Wednesday during a shooting at an apartment complex near Universal Studios in Orlando, knew Tamerlan Tsarnaev, the older of the two brothers behind the April 15 bombing attack. Todashev was shot while being questioned about an unsolved 2011 triple homicide in Waltham, Mass., in which one victim was a onetime associate of Tsarnaev, two law enforcement officials with knowledge of the investigation and the FBI told the Boston Globe.

"The agent, along with other law enforcement personnel, were interviewing an individual in connection with the Boston Marathon bombing investigation when a violent confrontation was initiated by the subject," FBI Agent Dave Couvertier said in a statement obtained by FoxNews.com. "During the confrontation, the individual was killed and the agent sustained non-life threatening injuries. As this incident is under review, we have no further details at this time."

Law enforcement officials told The Associated Press that Todashev after he lunged at an FBI agent with a knife.

In the aftermath of the bombing, questions were raised about a possible Tsarnaev connection to the triple murder, in which the throats of the victims in the 2011 incident were slashed and their bodies were covered with marijuana. According to the Globe, police were eyeing Todashev as a suspect in the triple murder. Two Massachusetts State Police troopers took part in the questioning that ended in Todashev's death, the FBI said. State Police spokesman David Procopio declined comment, the newspaper reported.

Khusen Taramov, who was at the scene and identified himself as the victim's friend, said Todashev, 27, knew Tamerlan Tsarnaev, the 26-year-old former amateur boxer suspected in the April 15 bombings that killed three and injured more than 260, MyFoxOrlando.com reports.




"He used to talk on the phone with [Tsarnaev]."

- Khusen Taramov, in reference to Ibragim Todashev


Taramov said he and Todashev had no connection with the Boston Marathon bombings, but the FBI had been questioning them since the attacks.

"He used to talk on the phone with [Tsarnaev]," Taramov said of his friend. "They talked last time a month ago. After the bombing, I couldn't believe it. The FBI kept asking, 'What's the connection?' But there is no connection ... no connection."

Taramov said Todashev had planned to soon return to Chechnya, but recently canceled his plane tickets instead.

"Me and him and my friends, we knew this was going to happen. That's why he wanted to leave the country," Taramov said. "But he canceled the tickets. The FBI's been pushing him, 'Don't leave, don't leave.' So he decided to stay.”

Taramov said he was questioned by the FBI earlier Tuesday but was allowed to leave, MyFoxOrlando.com reports. When he came back, he found out that Todashev had been shot dead, he said.

"The FBI knows what happened," Taramov said.

Police officials in Boston told FoxNews.com they had no information regarding the shooting.

An FBI post-shooting review team has been dispatched from Washington, D.C., and expected to arrive in Orlando within 24 hours, Couvertier said in a statement.

Todashev was arrested earlier this month on aggravated battery charges after getting into a fight with a 54-year-old man and his 35-year-old son over a parking spot at an Orlando shopping mall. The 35-year-old man was hospitalized with a split upper lip and several lost teeth, according to a report from the Orange County Sheriff's Office.

"Todashev said he was only fighting to protect his knee because he had surgery in March," an arrest affidavit reads. "Also by his own admission Todashev was recently a former mixed martial arts fighter. This skill puts his fighting ability way above that of a normal person."

Todashev was released on $3,500 bond after his May 4 arrest. His attorney, Alain Rivas, didn't immediately respond to a phone inquiry Wednesday.

Jared Morse, who lives near Todashev's apartment, said he had been watching an NBA game when he heard loud bangs that sounded like gunfire.

"It's crazy, especially in this neighborhood," Morse said as he walked his dog. "Nothing like this ever happens here."

 djones520 wrote:
When you have multiple officers present, the chances of that get a lot smaller. I'm inclined to go with the knife thing more then "the man threw punches so hard we had no choice but to shoot him" thing.

We shall see though.

 Ouze wrote:
Unfortunately, if there is one thing I've learned for sure in the last month, it's that we have to wait at least a week for the news to accurately report what happened.