Islamic Extremism Possible Motivation For New Year's Machete Attack On NYPD Cops: Report

NEW YORK, NY —The teenager who was charged in the New Year's Eve machete attack on three New York Police Department officers made some statements to investigators, leading them to believe he was possibly motivated by Islamic extremism, ABC News reported.

Trevor Bickford, a 19-year-old from Maine, told investigators that he sipped some water and then screamed "Allahu Akhbar" before attacking the officers with the machete, sources told the outlet. The phrase means "God is great" in Arabic has become associated with terrorism due to its use in some previous attacks, The New York Times reported.

The machete was purchased in Maine, where the teen also withdrew thousands in cash before traveling to New York on Dec. 29, suggesting his actions were premeditated, sources told ABC.

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The three officers, who were assigned to a New Year's Eve detail, were attacked around 10 p.m. on W. 52nd Street and 8th Avenue outside of the security screening zone, Police Commissioner Keechant Sewell told reporters Sunday at a news conference.

"Unprovoked" Bickford tried to strike one officer over the head with a machete and then struck the other two officers in the head with the knife, Sewell said. One of the officers, an eight-year veteran of the force, suffered a laceration to the head, and the second officer, who graduated from the police academy on Friday, was struck in the head and sustained a fractured skull and a large laceration, according to Sewell.

One of the officers fired their service weapon at Bickford, who was struck by a bullet in his shoulder, she said.

The NYPD is working with the Federal Bureau of Investigation on the case, Sewell said.

She described the attack as isolated and said there was no active threat to New York City.

"This is another exampled of what our officers face," she said.

Investigators are asking anyone with information to call Crime Stoppers at 1-800-577-TIPS.