Officer cleared in Cambridge shooting
UMass student, 20, was killed in Jan.
The shooting of a 20-year-old college student by a Cambridge police officer in January, which sparked outrage and community protests, was “justified and does not constitute a criminal act,” Middlesex District Attorney Marian Ryan announced Thursday after conducting an inquest into the fatal encounter.
Sayed Arif Faisal, a computer science major at the University of Massachusetts Boston and an immigrant from Bangladesh, had jumped out of an apartment window in Cambridgeport and was armed with a knife when he was shot and killed on Jan. 4.
“My condolences have been and remain with the family of Sayed Arif Faisal and those who continue to feel the profound pain of his passing,” Ryan said in a statement.
Officer Liam McMahon fired the fatal shots, striking Faisal six times, according to a 12-page report by Judge John Coffey.
Under case law, McMahon’s “decision to fire his weapon was objectively reasonable,” according to the report.
The city of Cambridge posted a brief statement and a copy of the inquest report on its website.
“We recognize how heavy the last nine months have been for our community and our hearts and minds are with the Faisal family and those impacted by this tragedy,” the statement said.
The report’s findings bring to a close a case that saw Cambridge police thrust into the national debate over police brutality and racism, particularly among Muslims.
Residents marched in protest, demanding the names of police officers involved in the shooting be made public. Hundreds filled City Hall for a meeting demanding answers about the death of the young Muslim man.
Within a month, Ryan announced she was taking the uncommon step of having an independent judicial review
of the shooting.
In a statement, Cambridge Police Commissioner Christine Elow called the shooting “a tragedy for our entire community.”
“My heart goes out to Faisal’s family and everyone who has been impacted,” said Elow. “No officer ever wants to be put in the position where they have to use fatal force, and if it happens it stays with each of us forever,” said Elow. “This tragedy has impacted our entire department.”
The department “remains deeply committed to thorough introspection, learning and growth as an organization.”
Fatema Ahmad, executive director of the Muslim Justice League, lamented the outcome of the inquiry. “The findings of the court are deeply frustrating but not surprising,” Ahmad said in an emailed statement. “We cannot expect this system to deliver justice and that is why we continue fighting for change. Regardless of their decision, the community knows that Sayed Arif Faisal deserved support and should be with us today. We are sending so much love to his family and hope everyone can give them space to process this difficult news.”
The report details the events that led up to the shooting. “Officers had been pursuing Faisal through Cambridge streets for approximately 10 minutes, during which time Faisal was cutting himself with a knife with a foot-long blade,” the report said. “Faisal never responded to the officers’ commands to stop and drop the knife, and Faisal refused to engage with any of the officers’ attempts to communicate with him.”
The report further said: “Faisal was not subdued or seemingly affected by the less-lethal shot, and instead turned and walked directly toward Officer McMahon while holding the knife out towards him.”
“At the moment that Officer McMahon fired his weapon, a reasonable law enforcement officer in the same position would reasonably believe that he, along with his fellow officers and others, were in imminent danger of being seriously injured or killed,” the report said.
A neighbor of Faisal’s called 911 at about 1 p.m. after seeing Faisal sitting shirtless in the backyard where he was attempting to slit his wrists and “seriously bleeding,” the report said.“The caller described Faisal’s actions as being like a ritual.”
By the time police arrived Faisal was in an alley. He was barefoot and covered in blood and ran when he saw the officers, the report said. Faisal “intermittently held the knife to his neck or turned towards the officers with a smile on his face, but Faisal did not react to any of the officers’ commands, nor did he verbally communicate with them,” the report said.
Faisal ignored officers’ attempts to communicate with him and sometimes used the knife “to hack and saw at himself,” the report said.