http://abcnews.go.com/US/ax-attack-york-city-cops-inspired-terrorists-police/story?id=26436991 A man who attacked New York City police officers with an ax had converted to Islam in recent years and the assault appears to have been a lone wolf terror attack, police said today.
One officer who was struck in the head with the ax by Zale Thompson on Thursday is in critical but stable condition, Police Commissioner William Bratton said. A second officer was also injured.
Thompson, 32, was shot and killed by two other officers as Thompson charged them with the ax, Bratton said.
The commissioner said that Thompson had converted to Islam two years ago.
"The father indicated to us he believed his son several years ago converted to become a Muslim, a self-proclaimed Muslim," Bratton said.
Deputy Commissioner John Miller, who is in charge of counterterrorism for the department, said a review of Thompson's computer showed that he had visited websites affiliated with radical groups, including al Qaeda, ISIS and al Shabaab.
"It appears from the electronic forensic piece of this, this is something he has been thinking about and thinking about with more intensity in recent days," Miller said.
