A man waving around a machete managed to injure a group of three New York City Police Department (NYPD) officers near New Year’s celebrations in Times Square, as reported by police officials.
These attacks took place at West 52nd Street and 8th Avenue directly next to the security screening zone this past Saturday at just about 10:11 p.m., explained NYPD Commissioner Keechant Sewell as he spoke during a news conference in the aftermath, highlighting that she was just speaking out with preliminary information.
Identified as a 19-year-old male, the suspect walked up to one of the officers from behind “unprovoked” and tried to slam the machete down on their head, explained Sewell. The suspect then allegedly stabbed out at a pair of other officers with his machete.
Watch as Police Commissioner Sewell & Mayor Adams provide an update on a police involved incident in Manhattan. https://t.co/ha11b02Fvq
— NYPD NEWS (@NYPDnews) January 1, 2023
One of the offers attacked was able to open fire on the suspect and hit him in the shoulder, stated Sewell.
All three of the injured officers were shuttled to a local hospital and have been declared in stable condition. The injured suspect was also taken to the same hospital for treatment. The NYPD was able to share a picture of the weapon which was allegedly used in the attack via their social media accounts.
This is the weapon that was recovered at the scene. https://t.co/Waaux2hUTt pic.twitter.com/EijU7QUgkQ
— NYPD NEWS (@NYPDnews) January 1, 2023
One officer, who has been identified as a veteran of the force of close to eight years, was afflicted with a laceration to his head. Another officer, who just recently passed training from the police academy this past Friday, suffered a large laceration along with a fracture to his skull, stated Sewell.
Eric Adams, the Democratic Mayor of New York City, explained that he was able to speak to one of the injured officers as they were being treated. Adams stated that the officer was still in “good spirits” and “understood that his role saved lives of New Yorkers today.”
Adams also stated that there were “no credible threats” to the people of New York at this time.
Additionally, the FBI has elected to step in to assist with the investigation of the incident.
“I want to be clear that the FBI, through the Joint Terrorism Task Force, is working very closely with [NYPD] to determine the nature of this attack,” explained Mike Driscoll, the assistant director of the FBI who runs the New York Field Office, as part of a news conference.
“I want to be very clear … there is no ongoing threat,” stated Driscoll. “We believe this was a sole individual at this time. There is nothing to indicate otherwise.”
