NYPD commissioner calls hatchet attack on officers a ‘terrorist act’

A man who attacked four New York City police officers with a hatchet Thursday was a recent convert to Islam and had become increasingly reclusive and “self-radicalized,” New York’s police commissioner said.

In a news conference Friday, Police Commissioner William J. Bratton called the incident a “terrorist act” and said local and federal anti-terrorism investigators were working on the case.

“At this time, we believe he acted alone, and we would describe him as self-radicalized,” Bratton said.

Zale Thompson, a 32-year-old Queens resident, had converted to Islam within the last few years, according to relatives interviewed by police, and was described by family members as a recluse and depressed, police said.

Police said Thompson had no prior arrests in New York but had been arrested six times in Oxnard on suspicion of domestic violence, hit and run, and probation violations. Those arrests occurred in 2003 and 2004.

Investigators also said he was discharged involuntarily from the military in 2003, after serving three years.

The incident began about 2 p.m. Thursday, when a photographer asked four rookie police officers on a foot patrol to pose for a photo. Police say that’s when Thompson charged at officers with an 18-inch hatchet, striking one officer in the arm before swinging again to hit another officer in the head.

The two other officers fired “numerous” shots at the attacker, killing him, police said. Thompson was still clutching the 18-inch hatchet after falling to the ground, according to police.

A 29-year-old woman, who was a half a block down the street at the time, was struck by a bullet in her lower back. She was in critical but stable condition at a local hospital. The photographer is cooperating with investigators, police said.

Officers Joseph Meeker, 24, and Kenneth Healey, 25, were taken to the hospital. Meeker, who suffered arm injuries, was released Thursday. Healey, who suffered a serious head injury, underwent surgery and remained in critical but stable condition Friday, police said. Bratton said the officer was “recovering, but in a great deal of pain.”

All four officers graduated from the police academy in July.

Bratton called the officers’ actions heroic.

“In the space of seven seconds ... those officers exhibited extraordinary bravery and skill in not only taking down an individual who was intent on killing them, but also rendering first aid immediately to their fallen comrades,” Bratton said.

Thompson’s most recent residence is believed to be at his father’s home in Queens, but police say he stayed with his mother the night before the attack. Police searched both homes and found other weapons, including another ax and a hunting knife. They are in the process of examining the contents of computers, cellphones and other items for clues about Thompson’s possible motives.

Police say interviews with his father suggest Thompson had grown increasingly reclusive, spending much of his time in his bedroom on the computer. Bratton described him as a “true proverbial loner.”

John Miller, NYPD Deputy Commissioner of Intelligence and Counter-Terrorism, said the investigation into Thompson’s “extensive social media presence” has so far revealed threats that are “anti-Western, anti-government, and in some cases, anti-white.”

“It appears ... that this is something he has been thinking about for some time, and thinking about with more intensity in recent days,” Miller said.

More recent activity seems to suggest Thompson was visiting websites focusing on terrorist groups including Al Qaeda, Shabab and Islamic State, and was researching recent incidents such as the White House fence jumper and the shootings in Canada.

Police are asking anyone who knew Thompson or has any information about him to come forward.

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