Imran Ali Rasheed: Texas 'terrorist' kills female Lyft driver, opens fire on police
GARLAND, TEXAS: A terrorism investigation has been launched by FBI after a 32-year-old gunman from Texas killed a female Lyft driver, stole her car, and then opened fire on a police station. Imran Ali Rasheed, who had been investigated in the past for suspected terrorist allegiance, was shot dead during the encounter with the cops. The shocking incident happened on Sunday, August 29, when Rasheed allegedly shot dead 26-year-old Isabella Lewis.
According to the police, Rasheed called a Lyft to an address in Garland around midday when Lewis arrived as his driver. He reportedly gunned her down, before hijacking the car and driving 10 miles to Plano. There he entered the lobby of the police station and was found by cops to be "behaving erratically". He left the lobby for a while and then returned with a semi-automatic pistol. Rasheed then opened fire at a civilian employee but was shot down by police officers. He later died in the hospital. It has been confirmed by the police and Rasheed was not a resident of Plano and it is unclear why he arrived at the Plano precinct to confront the cops.
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While investigating, the Garland police found a suspicious note in the stolen Lyft which prompted them to contact FBI. The federal authorities later opened a terrorism investigation after analyzing the contents of the note and Rasheed's past records. "Through our search for clues, we found a note in the car that gives us some type of motive for both of these shootings, and also a motive for us to speak to the FBI," stated Jeff Bryan, chief of Garland Police.
Though the contents of the note were not divulged for the sake of the investigation, FBI Dallas Special Agent Matthew DeSarno revealed, "Rasheed may have been inspired by a foreign terrorist organization to commit these acts. Haven't found any evidence he was directed by or in contact with foreign terrorist actors. He was inspired by the rhetoric and or/propaganda. He wasn't directed to do this." He added, "That's really as much as I can say about that, but bottom line is we believe he may have been inspired." However, DeSarno refused to disclose the name of the suspected terrorist faction as he did not want to give any terror organization "the opportunity to claim credit" for the crime.
"In any investigation there comes a time when we are no longer able to consider investigating a subject. And the case team decided he did not pose a threat. That was eight years ago," he mentioned about Rasheed's past, asserting, "We have looked at the steps that were taken, and I am satisfied that the investigative team did that properly and thoroughly."
"At this point, we do not believe the suspect was provided assistance by others or that others were involved in the incident," DeSarno further added but denied revealing any more specifics.