A man reported to have Islamic "extremist leanings" attacked police officers in New York city with a hatchet yesterday, injuring two of them before being shot dead.
The man was identified in the US media as Zale Thompson.
Four police officers in the city's Queens borough were posing for a photograph at the request of a freelance photographer when the man walked up and attacked them, according to a city hall statement.
One officer was hit in the arm and another in the head before the officers shot and killed the man, according to Police Commissioner Bill Bratton.
Police are investigating the motive for the attack, but said it was too early to determine whether it was terror-related.
A 29-year-old bystander was accidentally hit by a bullet in the lower back and taken to a hospital.
The man who took the photograph was cooperating with police and was not considered a suspect, Commissioner Bratton said.
The assailant had posted an array of statements on YouTube and Facebook that "display a hyper-racial focus in both religious and historical contexts, and ultimately hint at his extremist leanings," said SITE, which monitors radical Muslim groups.
