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NYPD: Arrest made in NYE machete attack
By
Steve Smith
Published Jan 2, 2023
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NYPD News
By
Steve Smith
Published Jan 2, 2023
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A suspect has been arrested in the case of an attack on three New York City Police officers on New Year’s Eve. Trevor Bickford, a 19-year-old man from Wells, Maine, has been charged with two counts of attempted murder of a police officer and two counts of attempted assault.
The incident took place on Saturday night just outside a high-security zone where revelers were screened for weapons. Police say the man tried to hit one officer, then struck two others with the machete. Police then shot the man in the shoulder.
As reported previously, the officers were posted on the corner of West 52nd St. and 8th Ave after 10 p.m. Saturday when they were attacked by a lone male, Police Commissioner Keechant Sewell said at a press conference at Bellevue Hospital on Sunday morning.
Sewell said an officer newly graduated from the police academy Friday suffered a gash to the head and a fractured skull in the attack. An eight-year NYPD veteran was also cut in the head, while the third officer was not seriously injured. All had been released from the hospital by late Sunday, a police spokesman confirmed.
Mike Driscoll, the FBI assistant director in charge of the New York field office, joined Commissioner Sewell and Mayor Eric Adams at the Sunday morning briefing. “There is no ongoing threat,” Driscoll said. "We believe this was a sole individual at this time. There is nothing to indicate otherwise.”
But while no charges related to terrorism have been announced thus far, media reports citing anonymous law enforcement sources have tied Bickford to radical Islam. The Associated Press reported that federal investigators are reviewing Bickford’s social-media posts. Other media reported that Bickford had been on a federal watch list already, and that his home in Maine was searched by federal investigators on Sunday.
An NYPD spokesperson declined further comment, citing the ongoing investigation. The FBI New York Bureau did not respond to an inquiry about the investigation.
This is an ongoing story that will be updated.
Steve Smith
Steve Smith is a former WNYC and Gothamist editor.
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Gothamist is funded by sponsors and member donations
Gothamist is funded by sponsors and member donations
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