3 NYPD officers attacked near New Year's Eve celebration

The New Year's Eve revelry in the US was interrupted by violence in New York City and elsewhere.

A young man wielding a machete attacked three police officers on Saturday near the celebration in New York City's Times Square, authorities said, striking two of them in the head before an NYPD officer shot the man in the shoulder.

The attack happened shortly after 10 pm, about eight blocks from the square in Midtown Manhattan, just outside of the area where revelers are screened for weapons.

"Unprovoked, a 19-year-old male approached an officer and attempted to strike him over the head with a machete," said New York Police Commissioner Keechant Sewell. "The male then struck two additional officers in the head with the machete."

The three officers were taken to Bellevue Hospital, one with a fractured skull and another with a bad cut, and were expected to recover. The injuries to the third officer were not disclosed.

The New York Post identified the suspect as Trevor Bickford, 19, who was on an FBI watchlist, citing multiple law enforcement sources Sunday.

One of the officers shot Bickford in the shoulder after he attacked them on Eighth Avenue between 51st and 52nd streets, the sources said. The wounded suspect also was taken to Bellevue Hospital. Charges were pending against him on Sunday morning, police said.

Bickford, from Wells, Maine, is believed to have become radicalized in recent years and was on the FBI's terrorism "Guardian Watchlist"; he had planned to travel to Afghanistan to fight alongside Islamic militants, sources told the Post.

He traveled to New York alone on an Amtrak train and packed camping gear, a diary, and a last will and testament, the sources told the Post.

The attack and sound of a gunshot briefly sent some in the crowd running.

The NYPD mounts a massive security operation every year to keep the New Year's Eve crowd safe. Thousands of officers are sent to the area, including many new recruits.

One of the injured officers had just graduated from the police academy on Friday, New York Mayor Eric Adams said.

A man was stabbed in the neck with scissors by another man a block from Times Square on Saturday, police and witnesses said.

The stabbing occurred around 8:45 pm when a fight broke out between the two on West 42nd Street and Sixth Avenue, near Bryant Park, police said, according to the Post.

"A guy with a book bag got knocked out. He was digging through his book bag. The guy with the bag was holding scissors. He pulled 2-inch scissors out of his bag. The guy who hit him knocked the scissors out of his hand and jabbed him in the neck three times," said a visitor from San Diego, who gave only his first name, Brandon, the Post reported.

"He was bleeding pretty bad in his neck. He did damage when he stabbed him with the scissors," the witness said.

"I was staring at the ball and I saw a big commotion and I saw someone do this like three times to someone's neck," said a witness named Gabriel, making a stabbing gesture, the Post reported. "I saw a bunch of blood so I'm assuming he got stabbed. Everybody was yelling, ‘Yo, it's not worth it!'"

"When people ask me how the ball dropped, I'll tell them that story. … I will say I saw some guy get stabbed in the neck in New York City. Very typical New York City," Bailey, girlfriend of Brandon, told the Post. "I probably won't see the ball drop again."

In Ocala, Florida, two people were killed and four others injured in a shooting early Sunday, authorities said. Gunfire broke out around 4:30 am in an area where a crowd of about 100 people were gathered, police said in a news release.

In Mobile, Alabama, one person was killed and nine hurt in a shooting a few blocks away from where thousands were in the streets for a New Year's Eve party, police said.

The shooting happened a few blocks from the main stage for the Moon Pie Over Mobile festival. The shooter and the person killed appeared to know each other, Mobile Police Chief Paul Prine told reporters near the scene.

In Philadelphia, nine people were shot, including two teenagers, over the weekend, fox29.com reported.

In Chicago, an extra 1,300 police officers were deployed across the city on New Year's Eve, many of them focusing on downtown festivities and the fireworks display at Navy Pier, officials announced Friday, the Chicago Sun-Times reported.

Over the last three years, at least five people were killed and 25 shot in the US' third-largest city in the 12-hour stretch between late New Year's Eve and early New Year's Day, according to police records, the Sun-Times reported.

The Associated Press contributed to this story.

hengweili@chinadailyusa.com