Machete allegedly used by Trevor Bickford
Cops in New York, New York, say an “unprovoked” machete-wielding man attacked three police officers on New Year’s Eve. No one died, though one of the cops sustained a large laceration and a skull fracture, and another received a laceration to the head. One of the officers shot the suspect in the shoulder, NYPD Commissioner Keechant Sewell said in a press conference early Sunday. All four people were hospitalized. The three officers are described as being in stable condition. Authorities described one of them as being a rookie, who just graduated from the academy on Friday.
Authorities did not publicly identify the suspect, but sources said that he is 19-year-old Trevor Bickford, of Maine, according to ABC News and The NY Post. Bickford’s mother and aunt previously told authorities that they had worries about him inclining toward what the outlet described as “dangerous Islamist ideologies,” said ABC’s sources.
He left behind a manifesto telling his family to “please repent to Allah and accept Islam,” police sources said, according to the Post.
“To my family — specifically, mother — I’m sorry for not having been a good enough son,” he allegedly wrote.
“Of anyone I’ve known who I have felt is closest to faith — it’s you,” he allegedly wrote one of his brothers. “Of anyone I’ve ever wanted to accept Islam with me — it’s you. Please repent to Allah and accept Islam. I fear for you.
He allegedly addressed another brother, saying they were no longer close: “You have joined the ranks of my enemy. And for that I can give you no kind words – return to Allah.”
Their father Thomas Kimo Bickford died in 2018.
Trevor Bickford allegedly took Amtrak to New York. He arrived on Thursday.
He has not been charged yet. According to police early Sunday, the suspect and the three officers went to Bellevue Hospital for treatment.
[Image via NYPD]