NBC 10 I-Team: Warwick man connected to Boston terror suspects

WARWICK, R.I. —

The NBC 10 I-Team has learned through authorities that the Warwick man questioned by police and the FBI is the third man who met with two Boston terror suspects on a Rhode Island beach.

Court documents released Wednesday said Usaama Rahim and David Wright met a then-unidentified third person on a Rhode Island beach Sunday during a heavy rain storm to discuss a plan which involved beheading an unknown victim and also attacking police officers.

Two days later, Rahim was shot dead by Boston police and the FBI after they said he lunged at them with a military-style knife. The FBI said Rahim was under 24-hour surveillance by the Joint Terrorism Task Force.

Wright was arrested a short time later in Everett, Massachusetts, and told the FBI, according to an affidavit, about the terror plot that was discussed Sunday on the beach.

"They're connecting the dots there, and evidently one of the dots is connected to down here," said Bill Donnelly, a resident of the Governor Francis Farms neighborhood in Warwick, now saturated with police and reporters.

NBC News confirmed police and the FBI have been questioning a Rhode Island man since Tuesday. Authorities said he is the person referred to in court documents as having attended a discussion with Rahim and Wright last Sunday "on a beach in Rhode Island, in inclement weather" to talk about Rahim's plans.

Separately, the NBC 10 I-Team has identified the Warwick man investigated by police as 24-year-old Nicholas Rovinski, who lives a short distance from Gaspee Point with his mother and younger brother on Aspinet Drive. The information was confirmed by a senior law enforcement official with knowledge of the investigation.

"Growing up with him, he was never a threat to anybody, always a good kid, always really nice too," said neighbor Brandon Waterman.

Other neighbors are now wondering why the police are on the street for the third day in a row.

"If he's in there, why not arrest him? My conclusion is they don't have enough evidence," Donnelly said.

The NBC 10 I-Team has learned through authorities that the investigation is not yet complete. A representative for the Boston office of the FBI would not confirm nor deny the connection of Rovinski to the third man on the beach.