Man attacks police in Queens NY with hatchet.

Vince524 · Oct 23, 2014

The suspect was hiding behind a bus shelter as if he was waiting to attack the officers, according to a law enforcement official, who said it almost appeared as if he was stalking them.

He struck one officer in the right arm and another in the head, police Commissioner Bill Bratton said. The two officers who weren't hit then shot at and killed the attacker.

The law enforcement official identified the suspect as Zale H. Thompson, who had a criminal record in California and had been discharged from the Navy for misconduct, according to the source.
The police officer who was struck in the head remains in critical but stable condition.

And this.

Authorities are looking to see if the unprovoked attack, in the New York borough of Queens, is tied to recent calls by radicals to attack military and police officers, law enforcement officials say.

Sunflowerrei · Oct 23, 2014

Yup. It happened at 162nd Street and Jamaica Avenue. Attacker was shot and killed.

Diana Hignutt · Oct 23, 2014

Tune in next week to see "Man attacks police in _________ with________."

WTF is going on over there? I leave the country and everybody suddenly goes all CRAZY!*

*to be read in Heath Ledger Joker Voice*

I totally defend the right of policemen to defend themselves with lethal force against all forms of armed assailant. Just copy and paste the previous sentence in the next few threads where the police are attacked, thanks.

blacbird · Oct 23, 2014

"Suicide by police" is a moderately common event in this nation, regrettably. This just looks like one more of those. Neither this guy, nor the assailant in Ottawa, had any intention of getting away.

caw

cornflake · Oct 23, 2014

I dunno, feels like your general nutter to me. Wouldn't be the first person to do such a thing in NY - someone once went berserk on the ferry with a machete, and there are a lot of reasons to attack cops, from general grudges to suicide to attention-seeking behaviour. Weird stuff happens.

Haggis · Oct 24, 2014

Seems logical.

When asked if the unprovoked attack was tied to terrorism or to recent calls by radicals to attack military and police officers, Bratton said, "there is nothing we know as of this time that would indicate that were the case," and a senior law enforcement official told CNN on Friday that investigators do not believe that Thompson, a Muslim convert, was driven by any radical Islamic views.

blacbird · Oct 24, 2014

Even if there turns out to be a veneer of "Islamist" motivation, that seems in this event to be simply an excuse for an act of violence that probably would have taken place anyway. Same for the Ottawa event. Unbalanced people with a motivation for suicidal violence will always find an excuse to justify it. Eric Harris and Dylan Klebold, in the Columbine, Colorado, high school massacre, justified their suicidal rampage through a combination of perceived social bullying and faux-Nazism. George Hennard, who mass-murdered 22 people, mainly women, inside a Luby's Cafeteria in Killeen, Texas, some years ago, justified his suicidal assault on the basis of women being evil. James Huberty, who similarlly killed 21 in a McDonald's in San Diego, justified his on the basis of everybody being against him. Wacko evangelist Jim Jones orchestrated the killing of 900 followers in Guyana on a similar basis.

caw

Man attacks police in Queens NY with hatchet.

Vince524

Are you gonna finish that bacon?

Sunflowerrei

Diana Hignutt

Very Tired

blacbird

cornflake

practical experience, FTW

Haggis

Evil, undead Chihuahua

blacbird