FBI Investigating Deadly Attack Against Lyft Driver and Police Station as Potential Terrorism Incident
Dallas-area police are investigating the murder of a Lyft driver and a subsequent assault on a police station as a potential act of terrorism, according to reports.
Police said Imran Ali Rasheed, 32, murdered a woman he had paid to give him a ride on Sunday, KTVT-TV reported.
After killing the woman in Garland and stealing her car, Rasheed drove to Plano, where he entered a police station and opened fire on a department employee who was helping a visitor. Officers responded to the gunfire and shot Rasheed to death.
Isabella Lewis, 26, had been dispatched to pick up Rasheed using the mobile ride-sharing app Lyft. Police said that there is no indication Lewis had previously met her killer.
Garland Chief of Police Jeff Bryan said at a news conference Monday that Lewis was found dead from a gunshot wound. Her family informed police of her status as a Lyft driver, which quickly kicked off the investigation.
Bryan said after tracking Lewis’ app use, they obtained the name of her last passenger, Rasheed.
Before police could find the car or Rasheed, the Garland Police Department was notified of the incident in Plano, where the victim’s car was found.
Garland police had been prepared to seek Rasheed on a capital murder warrant when they were informed he had died after the shootout in Plano, Bryan said.
“Part of our investigation now is to try to determine a motive,” the chief added. “Through our search for clues, we discovered a note that was left in the victim’s car that appears to give us some kind of motive for both of these shootings.”
That note, Bryan said, led his department to contact the FBI.
An FBI agent based in Dallas said the man shot Lewis to death and left the note that indicated the horrendous act might be linked to Islamic terrorism.
Matthew DeSarno, special agent in charge of the Dallas FBI office, said the note implied the killing “may have been inspired by a foreign terrorist organization.”
DeSarno speculated the murder suspect might have been radicalized online and that Rasheed was likely working alone.
“Haven’t found any evidence he was directed by or in contact with foreign terrorist actors. He was inspired by the rhetoric. He wasn’t directed to do this,” the FBI agent said.
“At this point, we do not believe the suspect was provided assistance by others or that others were involved in these incidents.”
The bureau also posted about the investigation on Twitter:
At this point, we do not believe that the suspect, Imran Ali Rasheed, was provided assistance by others or that others were involved in these incidents. However, it is our top investigative priority to fully determine the extent of his relationships and contacts.
— FBI Dallas (@FBIDallas) August 30, 2021
If anyone has relevant information about Imran Ali Rasheed or his involvement in these incidents, please report it to https://t.co/gEDOPVZKar or 1-800-CALL-FBI.
— FBI Dallas (@FBIDallas) August 30, 2021
The FBI said that Rasheed was the subject of a counterterrorism investigation from 2010 to 2013.
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