NYC police: Hatchet attack was terrorist act

New York City police are calling a brazen, broad-daylight attack by a hatchet-wielding man on a group of police officers an act of terrorism.

The suspect — Zale Thompson, 32 — attacked a group of four officers who had stopped to take a photo Thursday when a freelance photographer approached them. The suspect charged at the group for no apparent reason, police said. Thompson was shot dead by one of the officers.

"This was a terrorist attack," Police Commissioner William Bratton said Friday. A clear motive has yet to be established in the case.

It appears Thompson — who converted to Islam two years ago — became "self-radicalized" and was inspired by terrorist groups such as the Islamic State and al-Qaeda, the New York Times reported.

"We at this time believe that he acted alone," Bratton said at a news conference, which was also attended by New York City Mayor Bill de Blasio, according to the Times. "We would describe him as self-radicalized. It would appear at this time that he was self-directed in his activities."

John Miller, who oversees intelligence and counterterrorism for the New York Police Department, said recent online history showed Thompson had visited websites related to those terrorist groups, the Times reported.

"It appears, just from the electronic forensic piece of this, that this is something he has been thinking about for some time and thinking about with more intensity in recent days," Miller said.

Still, Thompson was not on a watch list, and there is no indication he sought training or an affiliation with terrorist groups.

The 32-year-old served in the U.S. Navy, and had a series of run-ins with the law for domestic violence in California in 2003 and 2004, police said. In recent postings on social media, he ranted about injustices in American society and oppression abroad, but the postings didn't point to any affiliation with a terror group or direct influence of radical Islam, they said.

The attack left police officer Kenneth Healy, 25, in the hospital after he was hit in the head with a hatchet, police said. He was in critical but stable condition as of Friday night, de Blasio said, according to CNN. Another police officer, Joseph Meeker, 24, was hit in the arm. He was treated and released, de Blasio said.

A bystander, a 29-year-old woman was hit in the lower back by a stray bullet when police opened fire on the attacker. She was recovering from surgery, police said. De Blasio said she was in critical but stable condition Friday.

The suspect first struck Meeker in the right arm, then went after Healy, striking him in the head, Bratton said.

"As he continued his assault, the remaining two officers then fired on the armed suspect who fell to the ground dropping the hatchet," Bratton said. "The suspect was pronounced dead at the scene."