The officer — who graduated Friday and was assigned to a Staten Island precinct but was working the New Year’s Eve detail for the night — was stationed at West 52nd Street and 8th Avenue when the machete-wielding madman approached him and two other officers around 9:30 p.m., NYPD sources told The Post.
The suspect, a 19-year-old, was arrested and taken to Bellevue Hospital. Senior law enforcement officials told The Post that cops are investigating whether he is a recently radicalized Islamic extremist, based on online postings.
Both wounded officers were also taken to Bellevue Hospital and are expected to recover. Both Sewell and Adams stressed there is no “active threat” to the community.
“No backpacks or umbrellas in Times Square. They forgot to mention machetes,” a police source told The Post.
Sewell arrived to the hospital to visit the wounded cops shortly after they were admitted. The mayor arrived around 12:30 a.m. on New Year’s Day in an SUV covered in confetti. Earlier, Hizzoner pushed the button to start the ball drop countdown as spectators bid farewell to 2022.
“They moved the barricades really fast. He was a police officer in front of the barricade area and he moved it for police cars to move fast — and that’s when the barricade fell and got hit by the car. He got double whammied,” witness Kim Novack told The Post.
The cop was taken to Mount Sinai West and is expected to recover, police sources said.
The area had already been a hotspot for rowdiness. Cops had to intervene when crowds were trying to tear down the barricades just an hour before the machete man ran toward cops.
The attack was also not the only in Times Square of the night. A man was stabbed in the neck with scissors around 8:45 p.m. when a fight broke out between two men on West 42nd Street and 6th Avenue.
Hours before the festivities were set to begin, another male was stabbed “around eight times” near Seventh Avenue and West 40th Street, the NYPD said. The victim was taken to Bellevue Hospital with non-life-threatening injuries, cops said.
One of the officers fired their weapon, striking the suspect in the shoulder, Sewell said. The suspect was taken into custody, she said.
The three officers were taken to Bellevue Hospital, Sewell said.
“We are really pleased by the response and how our officers handled this situation,” Mayor Eric Adams said. “All three of the officers are in stable conditions and there are no critical threats to New Yorkers at this time.”
Police working New Year’s Eve detail in Times Square were wounded by a machete-wielding man who struck multiple officers in the head in what law enforcement are investigating as a possible targeted attack.
Federal and local authorities are digging into the background of 19-year-old Trevor Bickford, who allegedly attacked a group of NYPD officers outside a security screening zone in Times Square just after 10 p.m. Saturday, multiple law enforcement sources said.
Bickford, of Wells, Maine, allegedly approached the officers on Manhattan’s 8th Avenue between 51st and 52nd streets armed with a large knife he used to swing at three different officers, NYPD Commissioner Keechant Sewell said at an overnight press conference.
Sewell said the man dealt two of the officers blows to the head, giving an 8-year veteran a head laceration and a recent police academy graduate a skull fracture. All three NYPD members were taken to Bellevue Hospital and were expected to survive.
At least one officer fired upon the suspect, striking him in the shoulder. Police sources said the alleged attacker’s injuries are also non-life-threatening. A preliminary review shows the man has no previous arrests but he was known to federal and local law enforcement because of previous online postings, the sources added.
“We believe this was a sole individual at this time, there’s nothing to suggest otherwise,” said Mike Driscoll, assistant director in charge of the New York FBI Field Office. The FBI’s Joint Terrorism task Force is also investigating.
The knife attack and gunfire startled a long line of crowds waiting to join the NYE celebrations. A local pizza shop employee said panicked revelers fled amid the chaos.
Police have closed down the immediate area for their investigation. The nearby New Year’s Eve celebration in Times Square was not impacted.
Discover more from KossyDerrickent
Subscribe to get the latest posts sent to your email.
