NEW YORK — An 'unprovoked' machete attack on three New York City police officers near Times Square on New Year's Eve is being investigated as a possible terrorist incident. The suspect is allegedly a 19-year-old man from Maine, whose online posts indicate recent Islamic radicalization, sources told ABC News.
January 01, 2023 at 9:00 am ESTNYPD/Anadolu Agency via Getty ImageJanuary 01, 2023 at 9:00 am EST
"Unprovoked, a 19-year-old male approached an officer and attempted to strike him over the head with a machete," Sewell said."The male then struck two additional officers in the head with the machete." Bickford has no prior arrests. His mother and aunt notified law enforcement in recent weeks about their concerns he was gravitating toward dangerous Islamist ideologies, the sources said. The report prompted the FBI’s Joint Terrorism Task Force to look into the suspect, the law enforcement sources said.
Both federal and local law enforcement stressed at Sunday morning's news conference the attack appeared to be an isolated incident and there was no longer a threat.One of the injured officers, an eight-year veteran of the NYPD, suffered a laceration to the head, officials said. Another hurt officer had just graduated from the police academy on Friday, and as is traditionally the case, his first assignment was the New Year's Eve detail in Times Square.
Patrick Lynch, president of the Police Benevolent Association of the City of New York, said,"Let's think about those family members here who are in shock right now, never thinking the first call of the year would be their son, their husband, their family member would be here in Bellevue Hospital."Videos from the scene appeared to show revelers jogging through the rain as they were directed away from the scene by columns of police officers.
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