Was The Slaying Of A Local Lyft Driver Terrorism? Maybe, FBI Says

(This is a developing story and will be updated.)

DALLAS, TX — Dallas FBI agents are trying to determine whether the killing of a Lyft driver Sunday in Plano was “inspired by a foreign terrorist organization,” in the words of Dallas FBI special agent Matthew DeSarno.

Specifically, DeSarno says, the agency is focusing on a note left in the vehicle where murder suspect Ali Rasheed, 32, allegedly shot and killed Lyft driver Isabella Lewis Aug. 29. According to authorities, Rasheed shot and killed Lewis when she responded to his request for a ride.

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Here's what the Plano and Garland police departments believe happened, and how the FBI became involved.

Officers in Garland responded to a call in the early hours of Sunday morning at the 400 block of Forest Gate Drive, close to Shiloh Road and Forest Lane, where they found Lewis already shot dead.

The car she'd used as a Lyft driver was nowhere to be found, and law enforcement agencies were alerted to be on the lookout for it.

Shortly thereafter, Rasheed appeared at Plano police headquarters, "behaving erratically" according to witnesses. He exchanged words with a civilian employee, left and returned brandishing a gun and began to fire. That's when police shot him and inflicted injuries that were ultimately fatal. Lewis' vehicle was later found in the Plano police parking lot, where it was determined that Rasheed was her last passenger. Her shooting was also recorded on video, according to police.

One of many remaining puzzle pieces is the note, which the FBI apparently believes was left by the now-deceased shooter. No one — neither the Garland police nor the Plano police or FBI investigators has revealed the contents of what was discovered.

On Monday, authorities confirmed the identities of both the victim and the shooter. Rasheed had been examined as part a counterterrorism investigation that ran from 2010 to 2013, but no action was taken at the time because he was assessed to not be a threat.

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