Trevor Bickford is a nineteen year old from Maine who has been charged with slashing two New York Police Department officers at Times Square on New Years Eve. According to police reports Trevor Bickford would attack the two officers with a machete style knife . Trevor Bickford would be shot in the shoulder and taken into custody. Apparently the FBI had been monitoring Trevor Bickford in the weeks before the attack due to his web activity and his Islamic extremist beliefs. Now authorities are investigating to see if Trevor Bickford will be charged with terrorism as well as the assault charges he is facing
Trevor Bickford More News
Police working New Year’s Eve detail in Times Square were wounded by a machete-wielding man who struck multiple officers in the head in what law enforcement are investigating as a possible targeted attack.
Federal and local authorities are digging into the background of 19-year-old Trevor Bickford, who allegedly attacked a group of NYPD officers outside a security screening zone in Times Square just after 10 p.m. Saturday, multiple law enforcement sources said.
Trevor Bickford, of Wells, Maine, allegedly approached the officers on Manhattan’s 8th Avenue between 51st and 52nd streets armed with a large knife he used to swing at three different officers, NYPD Commissioner Keechant Sewell said at an overnight press conference.
Sewell said the man dealt two of the officers blows to the head, giving an 8-year veteran a head laceration and a recent police academy graduate a skull fracture. All three NYPD members were taken to Bellevue Hospital and were expected to survive
At least one officer fired upon the suspect, striking him in the shoulder. Police sources said the alleged attacker’s injuries are also non-life-threatening. A preliminary review shows the man has no previous arrests but he was known to federal and local law enforcement because of previous online postings, the sources added.
Law enforcement officials said they are looking into whether the man who allegedly attacked the officers had previously posted what they called jihadist writings online and traveled to New York City to target police.
“We believe this was a sole individual at this time, there’s nothing to suggest otherwise,” said Mike Driscoll, assistant director in charge of the New York FBI Field Office. The FBI’s Joint Terrorism task Force is also investigating.
The knife attack and gunfire startled a long line of crowds waiting to join the NYE celebrations. A local pizza shop employee said panicked revelers fled amid the chaos.
Police have closed down the immediate area for their investigation. The nearby New Year’s Eve celebration in Times Square was not impacted