On October 23, 2014, a

hatchet A hatchet (from the Old French language, Old French , a diminutive form of ''hache'', 'axe' of Germanic origin) is a Tool, single-handed striking tool with a sharp blade on one side used to cut and split wood, and a hammerhead on the other side ...

-wielding man, Zale H. Thompson, attacked four

New York City Police Department The City of New York Police Department, also referred to as New York City Police Department (NYPD), is the primary law enforcement agency within New York City. Established on May 23, 1845, the NYPD is the largest, and one of the oldest, munic ...

(NYPD) officers on a crowded sidewalk in the

Jamaica Jamaica is an island country in the Caribbean Sea and the West Indies. At , it is the third-largest island—after Cuba and Hispaniola—of the Greater Antilles and the Caribbean. Jamaica lies about south of Cuba, west of Hispaniola (the is ...

neighborhood of

Queens Queens is the largest by area of the Boroughs of New York City, five boroughs of New York City, coextensive with Queens County, in the U.S. state of New York (state), New York. Located near the western end of Long Island, it is bordered by the ...

New York City New York, often called New York City (NYC), is the most populous city in the United States, located at the southern tip of New York State on one of the world's largest natural harbors. The city comprises five boroughs, each coextensive w ...

. Officer Kenneth Healey was struck in the head, while Officer Joseph Meeker was injured in the arm. Also injured was a female

civilian A civilian is a person who is not a member of an armed force. It is war crime, illegal under the law of armed conflict to target civilians with military attacks, along with numerous other considerations for civilians during times of war. If a civi ...

, who was struck by a stray bullet when two other officers shot and killed the perpetrator. Investigators discovered that Thompson was a recent

Muslim Muslims () are people who adhere to Islam, a Monotheism, monotheistic religion belonging to the Abrahamic religions, Abrahamic tradition. They consider the Quran, the foundational religious text of Islam, to be the verbatim word of the God ...

convert. His attack was classified as an act of

terrorism Terrorism, in its broadest sense, is the use of violence against non-combatants to achieve political or ideological aims. The term is used in this regard primarily to refer to intentional violence during peacetime or in the context of war aga ...

Attack

On October 23, 2014, Thompson approached a group of four New York City police officers from behind in the rain on

Jamaica Avenue Jamaica Avenue is a major avenue in the New York City boroughs of Brooklyn and Queens, New York, in the United States. Jamaica Avenue's western end is at Fulton Street and Broadway, as a continuation of East New York Avenue, in Brooklyn's ...

. He had previously been hiding behind a bus shelter. They were posing for a photograph taken by a freelance photographer on

, near Union Hall Street. Thompson took out an 18-inch metal

from a backpack, charged the group and brought it down into the back of one of the officer's heads. In the ensuing altercation, a second officer was wounded and Thompson was shot dead by the two uninjured officers. Both of the wounded police officers had been on the job for only four months. While attempting to shoot Thompson, the officers also wounded a female civilian who was struck in the lower back by a stray bullet.

Victims

25-year-old police officer Kenneth Healey was critically wounded after Thompson's hatchet struck the side of his head and fractured his skull. Officer Joseph Meeker, 24, also suffered a slash wound to the right arm. In addition, a 29-year-old civilian woman suffered a gunshot wound in her lower back, which was inflicted by a stray bullet fired by police officers as they were shooting at Thompson. The woman was initially in critical condition, but was stabilized after doctors performed surgery on her. Officer Meeker was treated at a hospital, but was released on the same day. Officer Healey remained in a Queens hospital, listed in critical but stable condition until October 29, when he left the hospital by ambulance to a rehabilitation facility. He walked the last few steps into the ambulance while being cheered by 200 fellow officers and fans.

Perpetrator

Zale H. Thompson ( 1982 – October 23, 2014), also known as Zaim Farouq Abdul-Malik, was identified as the assailant. He was a graduate of the Rosa Parks Campus in

Harlem Harlem is a neighborhood in Upper Manhattan, New York City. It is bounded roughly by the Hudson River on the west; the Harlem River and 155th Street on the north; Fifth Avenue on the east; and Central Park North on the south. The greater ...

, an adult-education program of the

College of New Rochelle The College of New Rochelle (CNR) was a private Catholic college with its main campus in New Rochelle, New York. It was founded as the College of St. Angela by Mother Irene Gill, OSU of the Ursuline Order as the first Catholic women's college in ...

, and attended

Teachers College, Columbia University Teachers College, Columbia University (TC) is the graduate school of education affiliated with Columbia University, a private research university in New York City. Founded in 1887, Teachers College has been a part of Columbia University since ...

from 2009 to 2010, but left before he could earn a degree. He also served in the

U.S. Navy The United States Navy (USN) is the maritime service branch of the United States Department of Defense. It is the world's most powerful navy with the largest displacement, at 4.5 million tons in 2021. It has the world's largest aircraft ...

, being involuntarily discharged in 2003. Between 2002 and 2003, he had been arrested six different times in

southern California Southern California (commonly shortened to SoCal) is a geographic and Cultural area, cultural List of regions of California, region that generally comprises the southern portion of the U.S. state of California. Its densely populated coastal reg ...

for domestic disputes. When he was sixteen, he was the victim of an assault, although further details about the incident were unclear. Thompson was described by acquaintances as an advocate of

black power Black power is a list of political slogans, political slogan and a name which is given to various associated ideologies which aim to achieve self-determination for black people. It is primarily, but not exclusively, used in the United States b ...

and was a recent convert to Islam. He had moved from Brooklyn to Queens before the attack. In the nine months preceding the attack, Thompson visited hundreds of websites regarding

designated terrorist organizations Several national governments and two international organizations have created lists of organizations that they designate as terrorist. The following list of designated terrorist groups lists groups designated as terrorist by current and former ...

. He also made several online posts railing against government, whites, injustices in American society, oppression abroad, and the Western world in general. On

Facebook Facebook is a social media and social networking service owned by the American technology conglomerate Meta Platforms, Meta. Created in 2004 by Mark Zuckerberg with four other Harvard College students and roommates, Eduardo Saverin, Andre ...

, he had an online conversation with another man regarding the topic of terrorism, although both of them derided the subject. Officials stated that Thompson was not tied to any international extremists or watch lists.

Aftermath

NYPD Commissioner The New York City police commissioner is the head of the New York City Police Department and presiding member of the Board of Commissioners. The commissioner is appointed by and serves at the pleasure of the mayor. The commissioner is responsibl ...

Bill Bratton William Joseph Bratton CBE (born October 6, 1947) is an American businessman and former law enforcement officer who served two non-consecutive tenures as the New York City Police Commissioner (1994–1996 and 2014–2016) and currently one of ...

described the attack as an "act of terror" on October 24. Police officers seized several computers from the home of Thompson's father and searched them. The attack took place one day after the Ottawa Parliament shootings and three days after the Saint-Jean-sur-Richelieu ramming attack, both of which were carried out by recent converts to Islam, and were described as lone wolf terror attacks. Media attention on the Queens attack questioned whether it was motivated by the

jihadist Jihadism is a neologism for modern, armed militant Political aspects of Islam, Islamic movements that seek to Islamic state, establish states based on Islamic principles. In a narrower sense, it refers to the belief that armed confrontation ...

group

ISIS Isis was a major goddess in ancient Egyptian religion whose worship spread throughout the Greco-Roman world. Isis was first mentioned in the Old Kingdom () as one of the main characters of the Osiris myth, in which she resurrects her sla ...

encouraging sympathizers to carry out terror attacks in their home countries. An

FBI The Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) is the domestic Intelligence agency, intelligence and Security agency, security service of the United States and Federal law enforcement in the United States, its principal federal law enforcement ag ...

intelligence assessment released in 2017, however, proposed that the attack was motivated by

black separatist Black separatism is a race-based separatist political movement that seeks separate economic and cultural development for people of sub-Saharan African descent in societies, particularly in the United States. Black separatism stems from the idea ...

extremism. According to the FBI report, Thompson had tattoos indicating association with a known black separatist extremist group, and he previously expressed support for "mass revolt" against the "white-dominated" political system in his own writings. They further speculate that Thompson may have been motivated by the

killing of Michael Brown On August 9, 2014, 18-year-old Michael Brown was shot and killed by police officer Darren Wilson in Ferguson, Missouri, a suburb of St. Louis. Brown was accompanied by his 22-year-old male friend Dorian Johnson. Wilson, a white male Fergu ...

in Ferguson, MI two months prior to the attack.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Queens hatchet attack 2014 crimes in New York (state) Anti-police violence in the United States Attacks in the United States in 2014 Crimes in Queens, New York Islamic terrorism in New York (state) Jamaica, Queens New York City Police Department October 2014 crimes in the United States Stabbing attacks in 2014 Mass stabbings in the United States Terrorist incidents in New York City Terrorist incidents in the United States in 2014 Axe attacks Islamic terrorist incidents in 2014

Attack

Victims

Perpetrator

Aftermath

See also

References