NY police fear that a crazed hatchet attack on four cop officers in Jamaica, Queens, today could be linked to terrorism.
The man attacked a group of four patrol officers who posed for a picture on Queens Street on Thursday.
He struck one officer in the right arm and another in the head, according to a police spokesman. The officers shot dead the suspect who was described as a 32-year-old male, Reuters reported. The identity of the assailant has not been confirmed yet.
The officers were on foot patrol and asked by a photographer to pose for a picture before the attack happened.
A 29-year-old female bystander was injured when police started firing at the assailant. She underwent surgery at a local hospital.
“At this point, no known motive for this attack has been established,” Police Commissioner William Bratton said.
Police have not so far linked the New York attack to “terrorism.”
The condition of the 25-year-old officer who was struck in the head is critical but stable, according to the police department.
An armed man attacked a soldier in the Canadian capital city of Ottawa on Wednesday before entering the Parliament building. An internal police memo in the United States has urged police officers to be on high alert.
Agencies/Canadajournal