| Shooting of Sayed Faisal | |
| Location: | Cambridge, Massachusetts, U.S. |
| Type: | Police shooting |
| Fatalities: | 1 |
On January 4, 2023, Sayed Faisel, a 20-year-old Bangladeshi American student at the University of Massachusetts Boston, was shot and killed by a Cambridge Police Department officer Liam McMahon. Cambridge police had responded to a report alleging that Faisel had jumped out of an apartment window with a knife. They also alleged that after a foot chase, Faisal moved towards officers with a knife. After one officer- Robert Colbert- shot Faisel with nonlethal sponge round that didn't stop him, McMahon shot him.[1]
The Cambridge Police Department was criticized by counter-protesters for the killing as an alleged act of police brutality, Islamophobia and racism. Counter-protesters and Faisel's family also called the explanation given by police into question, calling for more transparency and police reformation.[2] The Cambridge police officer who shot Faisel was ruled by a Massachusetts judge on October 5, 2023, that they would not be prosecuted and that the shooting was justified.[3]