NEW YORK CITY, N.Y. — A Maine man accused of attacking police with a machete near New York’s Times Square on New Year’s Eve, injuring two officers, was arrested Monday on attempted murder charges, police said Monday.
Trevor Bickford, 19, of Wells, also faces attempted assault charges, the New York Police Department said in a release.
Bickford was hospitalized after police shot him in the shoulder during the confrontation and was awaiting arraignment. It wasn’t immediately clear whether he had a lawyer who could speak to the allegations.
A law enforcement official has told The Associated Press that investigators were looking into whether he was inspired by radical Islamic extremism.
The violence happened about two hours before midnight Saturday, just outside the high-security zone where revelers are screened for weapons before gaining entry to one of the world’s biggest and most famous New Year’s celebrations.
Two of the officers were struck with the machete before the suspect was shot, authorities said. The two officers were hospitalized, one with a fractured skull and the other with a bad cut, and were expected to recover. So was the suspect.
NEWS CENTER Maine went to Bickford's home on Alpine Drive in Wells on Sunday and Monday where it was confirmed the FBI was investigating. It was unclear whether the FBI had executed a search warrant Sunday.
Neighbors told NEWS CENTER Maine that Bickford is one of three children, and that his parents divorced about 10 years ago. His father has since died. Neighbors also said Bickford worked this past summer at the Old Marsh Country Club in Wells as a groundskeeper.
Bickford graduated from Wells High School in 2022, where he played football and also wrestled.
Both the school and his former workplace declined to comment Monday.
Jackie Upton, a neighbor to Bickford, said she heard the accused attacker lived in Wells, but did not know he grew up in the same neighborhood she lives in.
"It's disturbing because we're thinking our neighborhood is quiet and this is just very disturbing someone would do that ... I am amazed he was down the street, I am amazed he was in the town of Wells," Upton said.