NYPD Commissioner ‘Confident’ Hatchet Attack Was Terror

A hatchet attack on four rookie police officers in New York City was labeled an act of terrorism, although detectives found no indication that anyone other than the assailant, who was shot dead, was involved.

Police Commissioner William Bratton said during a press conference that the alleged attacker, Zale Thompson, 32, of Queens, was a “self-radicalized” recent convert to Islam, described by family members as a depressed recluse who spent much of his time on his bedroom computer. Thompson was killed by police shortly after the attack, which lasted a total of 7 seconds and seriously injured two officers.