Fatal police shooting of Sayed Faisal in Cambridge was justified, court says
CAMBRIDGE - A court has ruled the fatal shooting of Sayed Arif Faisal by a Cambridge police officer in January was justified and not a criminal act. Faisal, who was armed with a kukri, a foot-long sword, was shot after a foot chase on January 4.
According to the inquest report released Thursday, Faisal never responded officers' commands to drop the weapon, was not subdued by a less-lethal shot, and turned and walked directly towards an officer holding the sword out towards him.
Judge John Coffey said, "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."
Following the shooting, protesters demanded justice for Faisal, a Bangladeshi American college student.
About a month after the shooting, the city announced police officers would start wearing body cameras.