An independent investigation into the fatal police shooting of a Cambridge college student at the beginning of this year found that the officer was justified in his use of force, the Middlesex district attorney said Thursday.
Arif Sayed Faisal, 20, was fatally shot by a police officer during a confrontation in Cambridge on Jan. 4, 2023. Investigators have said he was armed with a 12-inch knife at the time.
The deadly police shooting sparked protests and outrage in Cambridge, leading city officials to announce a series of reforms, including a proposal to eventually have all officers wear body cameras. A decision not to release the name of the officer involved in the immediate aftermath of the shooting was a pain point, as protesters called for more transparency and accountability.
Middlesex District Attorney Marian Ryan requested a judicial inquest into the incident. The independent investigation led by Judge John Coffey found that the shooting was justified after hearing testimony from dozens of witnesses and reviewing evidence in the case. Read the full report at the bottom of the article.
Coffey noted that the officer, identified as Officer Liam McMahon, made his decision based on a perceived threat to himself and his fellow officers.
"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. Therefore, the Court finds that the fatal shooting of Sayed Faisal on January 4, 2023, was justified and does not constitute a criminal act," the report reads.
The original incident began when police received a 911 call that afternoon saying that a man was seen jumping out of the window of an apartment with the weapon and appeared to be cutting himself with it, as well as broken glass from the window. Officers and paramedics found the man, later identified as Faisal, bleeding in an alley.
He then reportedly ran with the knife for several blocks after seeing police, who requested that he drop the weapon, according to a preliminary investigation by the Middlesex district attorney’s office and police.
Faisal then reportedly moved toward the police while still holding the knife, even when they fired a non-lethal round in an attempt to de-escalate the situation. The inquest report states that Faisal walked directly toward McMahon while holding the knife out toward him. McMahon fired his gun, hitting Faisal, who later died at an area hospital.
Faisal was a UMass Boston computer engineering student. Known as Prince by his family, he was an only child who was never violent and had never been involved with law enforcement before, his parents have said in a statement released by the Council on American-Islamic Relations after the shooting.
The Associated Press contributed to this report.
