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Authorities in New York City are investigating whether a man who attacked three police officers with a machete at a New Year’s Eve celebration, striking two of them, was inspired by radical Islamic extremism, according to a law enforcement official familiar with the matter.
The attack happened a little after 10 p.m. about eight blocks from Times Square, just outside the high-security zone where revelers are screened for weapons. Two of the officers were struck with the machete before an officer shot the man in the shoulder. The two officers were hospitalized, one with a fractured skull and the other with a bad cut, and were expected to recover.
Police did not publicly identify the 19-year-old suspect, but the law enforcement official identified him to The Associated Press as Trevor Bickford, of Wells, Maine.
Investigators believe Bickford traveled to New York City earlier in the week and are examining whether he came to New York specifically to attack police officers at one of the largest New Year‘s celebrations in the world, the law enforcement official said.
