New York Times Square Security Screening Area Targeted by a Man With a Machete: Three Officers Are In Stable Afterward
The NYPD commissioner says that three officers are in stable condition after being struck by a man with a machete outside of Times Square.
The attack occurred just after 10 p.m. Saturday on West 52nd Street and 8th Avenue, outside a Times Square New Year’s Eve security screening zone, Commissioner Keechant Sewell said.
According to the NYPD and sources, Bickford struck one officer with a machete, and then swung the blade at a third officer, who shot Bickford in the shoulder. The officers have been treated and released.
A recent graduating officer of the police academy suffered a skull injury and a laceration to his head. Another officer, an 8-year veteran, suffered a laceration, the commissioner said. The injuries to the third officer were not explained.
The FBI is working with the NYPD to find the reason for the attack and will run every lead to the ground.
New York Mayor Eric Adams praised the police response, saying responding officers immediately secured the scene and acted “with a level of professionalism that we expect from all of our officers.”
After getting their fellow officers assistance and subduing the suspect, responding officers returned to their posts “because we still had a city we had to protect,” Adams said, referencing New Year’s Eve celebrations.
The New York Police Department is suggesting that the suspect be charged with assault on two NYPD officers and attempted murder of a police officer.
The Manhattan District Attorney’s office has said that they do not yet have details of when Bickford will be arraigned. It’s unclear whether he has an attorney.
Bickford has been formally arrested after he allegedly attacked police officers at the security screening area outside of New Year’s Eve celebrations.
After 10 pm he went to the Times Square checkpoint on West 52nd street and 8th avenue, where officers checked his bag for weapons or suspicious items.
Sources say that Bickford had been taken into custody and placed under police guard at the hospital, where he was being treated for a gunshot wound.
According to sources, Bickford’s mother and grandmother complained to the police in Wells, Maine, that Bickford was planning to go to Afghanistan to join the Taliban.
According to sources, he was placed on a terrorist watch list by the FBI when they opened their wider investigation. If a person plans to travel to Afghanistan to join the Taliban, it is not a federal crime to provide material support to a terrorist group.
Several law enforcement sources told CNN that Bickford’s trips to New York on the train would not have tripped any watch list databases.
He arrived in New York on December 29 and checked into the Grand Hotel near the Bowery, which is in Manhattan. He checked out on New Years Eve with all his luggage, and then went on a machete attack in Times Square, according to sources.
The Innocuous Days of Sgr. T.J. DeWitt: Will he Make a Will and Testament?
The diary investigators believe belongs to the suspect ends with a will and testament. According to multiple law enforcement sources, the final entry, dated December 31st, begins with the words, “This will likely be my last entry.” and ends with instructions for how to divide the author’s belongings among his family and friends.