NEW YORK (AP) — A New York City police officer who suffered a serious head wound after being attacked by a hatchet-wielding man remains in critical but stable condition, police said Friday.
Police say another officer who was hit in the back of the head in the Thursday attack is in stable condition on Friday.
The attacker was shot and killed by police.
Security videotape and witness accounts appeared to leave no doubt that the man purposely targeted four rookie New York Police Department officers, police said. Moments before the attack, he was seen on a street corner crouching down to pull the hatchet out of backpack before he charged the officers and began swinging the hatchet with a two-handed grip, police said.
Asked if the attack could be related to terrorism, Police Commissioner William Bratton didn’t rule it out. He cited the fatal shooting of a soldier in Canada earlier this week — what officials there have called a terror attack — as reason for concern.
“This early on, we really cannot say yes or no to that question,” Bratton said Thursday.
The attack occurred at about 2 p.m. while the officers were standing together on foot patrol, police said. Without a word, the man swung at an officer who blocked the blow with his arm. Another officer was hit in the back of the head and fell to the ground.
As the man raised the hatchet again, the two uninjured officers drew their weapons and fired several rounds, police said. The bullets killed the assailant and wounded a female bystander, police said.
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Associated Press writer Tom Hays contributed to this report.
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This is obviously just another case of bad policing. These cops set out that day to shoot someone. This guy was minding his own business when the police put a hatchet into his hands, pretended to get hit by it, then used that as an excuse to gun him down. The injured officer is probably faking it. Yeah, that’s it.
Or maybe this guy really did go after the cops with a hatchet. But instead of just shooting his hands, the vicious, murderous pigs killed him needlessly.
Just trying to get into the TPM poster spirit.
CrAZY peOPLe didN"T attaCK POLICe beFORe NOBAMAZEROTWOTERMSCARE
Yup, there was a police shooting of a guy running around like a crazy man on a crowded NYC street waving a machete and screaming and yelling…and the reaction from many on here was that the shooting was not warranted. Of course if he had sliced someone, that would have been the cops fault for not subduing him…(yawn)
Updates on this appear that this may be classified as a terror attack of some kind. It seems he was one of these “I hate the gubbermint” or “we live in a police state” nuts. We’ll have to see who he was communicating with, etc. My guess is that he is a big Alex Jones (or some such conspiracy salesman) fan.
Further updates indicate he is one of the Muslim radical converts. Equally dangerous.
Oh, and BTW, the videotape is clearly a fake, and the “eyewitnesses” are all just in on the conspiracy. Another massive coverup to justify murder-by-cop.