Cambridge Mourns UMass Student Fatally Shot By Police Officer: Report

CAMBRIDGE, MA — City officials faced an emotional crowd at the Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. School Thursday at a meeting to discuss the fatal shooting of a UMass Boston student by a police officer earlier this month, WBUR reported Friday.

The victim, 20-year-old Sayed Faisal from Cambridge, was fatally shot by a Cambridge police officer near Chestnut Street on Jan. 4, according to authorities. Police said Faisal, who was carrying machete, ran through a Cambridgeport neighborhood with the weapon and an officer discharged their firearm after they were unable to deescalate the situation.

Photos from Thursday's event show community members standing at the edge of the stage with a sea of signs reading "Justice For Faisal!"

"This has been a really difficult week for the entire city," Cambridge Mayor Sumbul Siddiqui told the crowd, according to WBUR. "And I know the pain is very fresh. All of us have different grieving processes and it's important to identify the support you need to get through this challenging and confusing time."

Police said that around 1:15 p.m. on Jan. 4, a Cambridgeport resident called 911 after witnessing a man, later identified as Faisal, jump out the window of an apartment. The caller reported that the man had a machete and appeared to be cutting himself with both the weapon and broken window glass, police added.

According to police, multiple paramedics and officers arrived on the scene to find Faisal "bleeding in an alley behind a Sidney Street building," after which Faisal ran through several blocks in the neighborhood with the weapon, moving toward officers who asked that he put the weapon down.

Authorities said that after attempts to deescalate the situation failed, an officer discharged a sponge round at Faisal. Police added that when Faisal continued to approach officers with the weapon, one officer discharged his firearm and struck Faisal, who was treated on the scene by officers until EMS arrived but later died at Massachussets General Hospital.

According to District Attorney Marian Ryan, a judge will hear testimony from all sides in an independent judicial inquest and determine whether police are criminally responsible before deciding if the officer will be charged in Faisal's death, WBUR reported.

"You should feel safe where you live. People want to feel safe about their children," Ryan said, according to the outlet. "They want to know yesterday what the explanation [for the shooting] is. We're not in a position to have all that because at the same time, you want a thorough investigation."