US axe-attack suspect 'self-radicalised'

New York police describe Zane Thompson's social media posts as "anti-government, anti-Western, anti-white". The hatchet-wielding man who wounded two New York City police officers, critically injuring one, was a "self-radicalised convert to Islam", US police said, believed to have acted alone in what they called a terrorist attack. The suspect, Zale Thompson, who was shot dead by two other officers on Thursday afternoon on street in the Queens area of the city, had made anti-Western postings on social media, police told a news conference on Friday. A search of computers seized from the home of Thompson's father, where the 32-year-old man lived, showed he also spent time reading online about beheadings, a recent intrusion at the White House and attacks in Canada. "This was a terrorist attack," Commissioner William Bratton said. Investigators were trying to determine whether Thompson, who converted to Islam two years ago, had any connection to a nearby mosque. Police said Thompson's social media postings were "anti-government, anti Western, anti-white." Still under investigation was the extent of planning involved in the attack, which appeared to be unprovoked and somewhat spontaneous, Bratton said. "The fact that he was walking around with a hatchet in the backpack makes it clear this individual had some sense of preparation," Bratton said. Seven-second attack The attack on Thursday took place in a Queens shopping district in just seven seconds, police said. A group of four police officers were posing for a freelance photographer when Thompson charged them, swinging the hatchet. One officer was struck in the arm and another in the head before the other two officers opened fire, killing Thompson. A female bystander was struck by a stray bullet and critically wounded.