NYC police commissioner: Hatchet ****** was ******
Associated Press By TOM HAYS 2 hours ago
NEW YORK (AP) — A brazen daylight hatchet ****** against a group of police officers on a busy New York street was a terrorist act by a reclusive Muslim convert who ranted online against America but had no clear ties to international extremists, the police commissioner said Friday.
Police were examining Zale Thompson's computer for clues about a motive for the Thursday assault that left one of the officers seriously injured and ended with Thompson being ****** by police. Police Commissioner William Bratton said Thompson's browsing history included organized ****** groups, beheadings and the shooting in Canada earlier this week that officials there have called a terrorist ******.
Thompson was not on any watch lists, and officials found no indication he sought any training or affiliation to any groups.
Still, Bratton said he was comfortable calling it a terrorist ******.
"This was a terrorist ******, certainly," Bratton said.
But he also stopped short of including the ****** in the list of ****** plots against the city since Sept. 11, 2001, saying the investigation was continuing.
Bratton said investigators were trying to determine whether the ****** was planned or spontaneous but believe Thompson was self-radicalized. His ****** told officials he converted to Islam about two years ago and was described as a "recluse" who had been depressed lately.
Thompson, 32, had once served in the U.S. Navy and had a history of run-ins with the law over domestic ******** 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 ****** group or direct influence of radical Islam, they said.
Security video and witness accounts appeared to leave no doubt that Thompson purposely targeted four rookie New York Police Department officers who were in uniform and on foot patrol in a bustling Queens commercial district.
Moments before the ******, the bearded suspect was seen on a street corner crouching down to pull the hatchet out of backpack before he charged the officers and began swinging the hatchet with a two-handed grip, police said.
At the time, the officers were posing for a photo for a passerby. Without a word, Thompson swung at an officer who blocked the blow with his arm, police said. Another officer was hit in the back of the head and fell to the ground.
As the suspect raised the hatchet again, the two uninjured officers drew their weapons and fired several rounds, police said. The bullets ****** the assailant and wounded a bystander, police said. A ****** hatchet, about 18 inches long, was recovered.
Officer Kenneth Healey remained hospitalized on Friday with a head wound. The bystander, a 29-year-old woman, also was being treated for a gunshot wound to the back. Both were critical.
