Imran Ali Rasheed is accused of murdering 26-year-old Lewis Baker in Garland before opening fire in the lobby of Plano Police Headquarters. Rasheed was shot multiple times by an officer who returned fire. He was taken to a hospital, where he later died of his injuries.
The FBI’s office in Dallas is now investigating Rasheed’s crime for possible acts of terrorism. Garland Police also found a note Rasheed left in the Lyft driver’s car, which indicated that terrorism might have been his motivation.
Rasheed was living with his family, whose attorney said they are fully cooperating with the investigation. The family’s attorney also added that Rasheed’s crime blindsided the family.
“It’s just hard for them to deal with any of it,” said attorney Edwin King, “none of it makes any sense to them. No indications, no red flags.”
King also noted that Rasheed had suffered from multiple sclerosis and may have even been depressed after he was recently laid off. However, King said that Rasheed’s family had no reason to think he was capable of such crimes.
Rasheed had been the subject of a counter-terrorism investigation eight years ago. The findings of the investigation did not show Rasheed to be a threat at the time.
“At the end of the day, the scope of oversight is so significant that there’s no way the FBI could have predicted this particular individual committing that type of a crime,” said Dr. Alex Del Carmen, Associate Dean of the School of Criminology at Tarleton State University.