This Article is From Oct 24, 2014

Was New York Hatchet Attack Inspired by Islamic State? FBI Investigates

Was New York Hatchet Attack Inspired by Islamic State? FBI Investigates

The unidentified man approached New York City police officers with a hatchet. (Associated Press)

New York: The Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) is investigating whether an axe attack on four New York police officers was inspired by the Islamic State group.

CCTV footage captured the seconds before the attack by 32-year-old Zale Thompson, who had been discharged from the US Navy for misconduct. Two police officers were injured when hatchet-wielding Thompson attacked the group of patrol officers on Thursday. One of the officers is critical but stable with a fractured skull while another was injured in the arm. A bystander was wounded in the gunfire.

The attack occurred in the commercial district in the borough of Queens at about 2 pm, when the four rookie New York Police Department officers were posing for a photo, police said. Without a word, the man charged the officers and began swinging the hatchet, first hitting one in the arm and another in the back of the head, they said.

After the second officer fell to the ground, the two uninjured officers fired several rounds. The bullets killed the assailant and wounded the bystander, police said.

At a news conference at a hospital where one officer was being treated, Police Commissioner William Bratton said that investigators were still trying to confirm the identity of the assailant and determine a motive.

Investigators haven't called it a terror attack yet, but Thompson's social media posts are being looked at to establish whether he had been radicalised and inspired by the Islamic State (IS) group. Two attacks in Canada have been linked to being inspired by IS which has put several propaganda videos online calling for attacks in the 22 country coalition led by the US in Syria and Iraq against them.

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