NYPD officers attacked with machete near Times Square on New Year’s Eve, terrorism suspected

Three New York City police officers were stabbed by a man wielding a machete in an unprovoked attack near Times Square shortly before the city’s famed New Year’s Eve celebration, authorities said Sunday morning.

NYPD Commissioner Keechant Sewell said the officers are hospitalized in stable condition after the incident, which occurred around 10 p.m. Saturday at the corner of West 52nd Street and 8th Avenue.

The officers shot the suspect, a 19-year-old man, in the shoulder.

Detectives are investigating whether the suspect, identified by police sources as Trevor Bickford of Maine, has ties to Islamic extremism based on his online activity, The New York Post reported.

The attack is being investigated as a possible terror attack, sources told ABC News.

The attack occurred when the suspect attempted to strike one if the officers over the head with a machete, Sewell said. The suspect then struck two additional officers before one fired his service weapon.

No civilians were injured.

The FBI and the federal Joint Terrorism Task Force are assisting, and the attack is believed to be isolated to the single suspect, officials said.

I want to be very clear … there is no ongoing threat,” said Mike Driscoll, the FBI assistant director in charge of the New York field office, according to CNN.

“We believe this was a sole individual at this time,” he said, adding, “There is nothing to indicate otherwise.”