BOSTON (MyFoxBoston.com) -- A man with a knife was shot and killed by police in Boston Friday.
Just after 2 p.m., a 45-year-old Somerville man identified as Santos Laboy, attempted to flee from Boston University police on the esplanade. An altercation ensued and state police were called in to assist.
A state trooper shot and killed Laboy when he refused to drop a knife he was carrying on the Silber Way Footbridge. No officers were injured and police say witnesses heard the conversation between the trooper and Laboy before the shots were fired.
?<<< Click here to see photos from the scene. >>>
One witness at the scene said, "They saw me freaking out, I got up and just ran and heard the gun shot and people running."
Police say Laboy had a lengthy criminal record and they were looking for him due to outstanding warrants before the shooting. They recovered a folding knife, in the open position, from the scene.
In a video witness Brian O'Grady sent to FOX25, you can hear police yelling, "Watch the crossfire," to fellow officers.
“It was a really intense moment for all the police officers," O'Grady said. "He had a knife, they didn't know what he was gonna do.”
<<<Click here to see video from the scene. >>>
Laboy is believed to be the same man wanted for leaving sexually explicit photos at a Boston business, sources tell FOX25.
Divanny Gonzalez, an employee at the laundry business said, "He was basically leaving explicit pictures under the door and also calling and harassing them and saying very explicit and vulgar things to the ladies who work here.”
While digging into Laboy's background, FOX25 found that he posted some disturbing messages on his Facebook page recently, including one he calls a message to US marshals, Boston police and the probation department, saying, "Despite your threat to use force to capture me if I refuse to surrender, I'm still free and getting stronger by the day. Got nothing to lose."
And just hours after the shooting death of a terror suspect in Roslindale, Laboy wrote that Usaamah Rahim, "Let the FBI and cops catch him in an area where there weren't many people, that's how they move. They dont want any collateral damage, thus, I must move around in crowds."
Boston University released a statement to their students Friday afternoon, saying that they "have no reason to believe there is any continuing threat to the community relating to this incident."
The statement goes on to say that the area around the footbridge is a crime scene and should be avoided.
"The activity that people in the vicinity may see is a consequence of the investigative activity, not an ongoing event," according to the statement.
Suffolk County District Attorney Daniel F. Conley announced late Friday that he assigned a senior prosecutor to investigate this case.
