Man wounds NYPD cops with machete just outside Times Square New Year’s celebration in possible terror attempt

A young Maine man who recently became fixated with radical Islamic jihadism wounded two NYPD cops with a massive curved knife just outside the Times Square New Year’s Eve celebration, fracturing a rookie officer’s skull before being shot by police, law enforcement sources said Sunday.

Cops and federal investigators are now taking a hard look at the social media history of the 19-year-old suspect, identified by sources as Trevor Bickford of Wells, Maine, to determine if terrorism motivated the bloody holiday attack, law enforcement sources said.

Bickford tried to swing a machete-like blade into a police officer’s head near Eighth Ave. and W. 52nd St. about 10:11 p.m. Saturday, NYPD Commissioner Keechant Sewell said. He then slashed two other officers in the head.

The rookie officer, identified by sources as Paul Cozzolino, who graduated from the Police Academy on Friday, suffered a “large laceration” to his head and a skull fracture his first day on the job.

The other wounded officers, an eight-year veteran identified by sources as Louis Iorio, suffered a cut to his head, Sewell said.

“One of the officers fired their service weapon, striking the subject in the shoulder,” Sewell said.

Mayor Adams said he met with the on-the-mend rookie officer.

“I spoke with Paul and his dad, who’s named Paul as well, and his mom and his girlfriend as he was being stitched up and he was in good spirits,” Adams said. “He understood that his role saved lives of New Yorkers today.”

The officer who opened fire, Michael Hanna, is also a rookie, police sources said. He joined the NYPD in April.

Iorio and Hanna are both assigned to Staten Island’s 123rd Precinct but were among the phalanx of cops working around Times Square for the New Year’s Eve ball drop.

Workers at a halal stand near the scene heard the gunshots.

“I heard the sounds only — Bang! Bang!” recounted one of the workers, Prodip Bisws. “People were running, oh my god, they were running.”

Police at the scene quickly took Bickford into custody.

The officers were taken to Bellevue Hospital, as was the suspect. All three were in stable condition, Sewell said.

Bickford came to New York via Amtrak on Dec. 29, according to ABC News.

He has no arrest history, but his mother and aunt became concerned about his turn toward jihadist ideologies and reached out to law enforcement officials, which put him on the radar of the FBI’s Joint Terrorism Task Force, ABC News reported, citing law enforcement sources.

His mother, Audra D’Antilio Simpson, praised her son on his 19th birthday in a July Facebook post.

“So proud and lucky to be able to call you my son. (You’re) an old soul and you amaze me every day with all that you enjoy to explore and do,” she wrote. “I am so beyond proud of the man you are becoming.”

She has since taken down her public Facebook page and did not respond to messages seeking comment.

Bickford’s dad, Thomas Bickford, died unexpectedly in March 2018, according to an obituary.

The young suspect played football and wrestling in high school, and was a member of the 2020 Wells High School state championship wrestling team, according to the Portland Press Herald.

Assistant FBI Director Mike Driscoll told reporters the bureau was “trying to determine the nature of this attack,” but there appeared to be no “ongoing” threat.

Authorities were still determining whether Bickford will face local or federal charges Sunday.

At a news conference with Sewell and other law enforcement officials, Adams praised the police handling of the incident.

“These officers responded in an admirable, professional manner,” Adams said.

The attack took place just outside the security zone in Times Square, where thousands gathered for the annual ball drop. Police screened revelers for contraband such as alcohol, large bags, and weapons.

The assault on the three cops went down 10 short blocks north and one long block west of the heart of Times Square.

In an earlier incident around 8:45 p.m., two men were taken into custody after they got into a knife fight at the intersection of W. 42nd St. and 6th Ave., near Bryant Park, also outside the Times Square security zone.

One of the men was taken to Bellevue Hospital, and both were taken into police custody.

With Thomas Tracy