Investigators are studying whether a Texas man was inspired by foreign terrorists when he fatally shot a Lyft driver in a Dallas suburb and opened fire at another suburb police station where officers shot him.
GARLAND, Texas – Investigators are studying whether a Texas man was inspired by foreign terrorists when he killed a Lyft driver in a Dallas suburb and later opened fire at another suburban police station where officers went to him. shoot.
Police said Imran Ali Rasheed ordered a Lyft on Sunday in his hometown, Garland, and then fatally shot the driver, Isabella Lewis. His stolen car was found shortly after outside the police station in the neighboring Plano community, where Rasheed began firing in the lobby before being shot by officers, police chiefs in the two cities were told. press Monday.
Matthew DeSarno, special agent in charge of the FBI office in Dallas, said investigators believe Rasheed acted alone, but that the 33-year-old left a letter stating that “he may have been inspired by a foreign terrorist organization “. He offered no further details on the letter and refused to identify the group.
DeSarno said Rasheed was the subject of an anti-terrorism investigation from 2010 to 2013, when the case was closed after officers determined Rasheed did not currently pose a threat. The agency’s regional terrorism task force is working on investigating Lewis’s murder, he said.
Authorities said no connection was known between Lewis and Rasheed and it is unclear why he went to the Plano police department. “We have no idea why he came to Plano to look for police officers,” said Ed Drain, the city’s police chief.
Rasheed died from his injuries at a hospital later Sunday, Drain said. He noted that officers who shot at him were being investigated in collaboration with the Collin County District Attorney’s Office.