Shooting of Sayed Faisal

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.

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. 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.

People involved

 * Sayed Faisal was a 20-year-old student attending the University of Massachusetts Boston.
 * Liam McMahon had been a police officer within the Cambridge Police Department since 2015
 * Robert Colbert