3 police officers near Times Square injured in machete attack

Three police officers near Times Square were injured in machete attack on New Year's Eve, the New York officials said, according to local US media.

An "unprovoked" machete attack on three New York City police officers near Times Square on New Year's Eve is being investigated as a possible terrorist incident. The suspect is allegedly a 19-year-old man from Maine, whose online posts indicate recent Islamic radicalization, sources told ABC News.

Investigators are looking into whether the suspect came to the annual ball drop specifically to wage an attack on law enforcement, the sources said.

The incident occurred just after 10 p.m. on Saturday near West 52nd Street and 8th Avenue, outside the secure area that had been set up for New Year's Eve celebrations, Police Commissioner Keechant Sewell told reporters at a news conference at Manhattan's Bellevue Hospital.

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

One of the officers fired their weapon, striking the suspect in the shoulder, Sewell said. The suspect was taken into custody, she said.

The three officers were taken to Bellevue, Sewell said.

While a motive remains under investigation, authorities are not ruling out the possibility that the suspect, whose name has not been released, came to New York City specifically to attack police officers at the Times Square ball drop, law enforcement sources told ABC News.

Federal and local law enforcement investigators are combing through the suspect's online postings, which preliminarily indicate recent extremist Islamic radicalization, the sources said.

The suspect has no prior arrests, but his recent behavior prompted a concerned family member to report him to the authorities, the sources said. The report prompted the FBI’s Joint Terrorism Task Force to look into the suspect, the law enforcement sources said.

Details of what prompted the relative's report were not immediately disclosed.

MNA/PR