NY officers injured in machete attack near New Year’s Eve event
NEW YORK — A man wielding a machete attacked three police officers at the New Year’s Eve celebration in New York City, authorities said, striking two of them in the head before an officer shot the man in the shoulder.
The attack happened a little after 10 p.m. Saturday about eight blocks from Times Square, just outside of the high-security zone where revelers are screened for weapons.
The two officers were hospitalized, one with a fractured skull and the other with a bad cut, and were expected to recover.
Police did not identify the 19-year-old suspect, who also was expected to recover.
The attack and sound of a gunshot briefly sent some people in the crowd running, but the incident did not impact the festivities in Times Square, which continued uninterrupted.
Mayor Eric Adams said at a news conference that he had spoken to one of the wounded officers as he was being stitched up at the hospital.
“He was in good spirits,” Adams said. “He understood that his role saved lives of New Yorkers today.”
An investigation was underway to pinpoint a motive for the attack, but authorities said they didn’t believe there was any ongoing threat to the public.
Michael Driscoll, the assistant director in charge of the FBI’s New York field office, said the agency believes the attacker acted alone.
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 just graduated from the police academy Friday, the mayor said. Alabama fatal shooting:
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 in downtown Mobile, Alabama, police said.
TV news footage showed police officers running and on horseback rushing to the area where the shooting took place about 45 minutes before midnight Saturday.
Neither the name of the person killed nor the conditions of the nine people taken to the hospital have been released by police.
The shooting happened a few blocks away from the main stage for the Moon Pie Over Mobile festival. The event continued on with fireworks and a moon pie dropping from a downtown building at midnight to mark the start of 2023,
The shooter and the person killed appeared to know each other, Mobile police Chief Paul Prine told reporters near the scene.
“It would give some comfort to all of us downtown that this was not just a random shooting,” Prine said.
Biden road trip: President Joe Biden and top administration officials will open a new year of divided government by fanning out across the country to talk about how the economy is benefiting from his work with Democrats and Republicans.
As part of the pitch, Biden and Senate Republican leader Mitch McConnell will make a rare joint appearance in McConnell’s home state of Kentucky on Wednesday to highlight nearly $1 trillion in infrastructure spending that lawmakers approved on a bipartisan basis in 2021.
The Democratic president will also be joined by a bipartisan group of elected officials when he visits the Kentucky side of the Cincinnati area, including Sen. Sherrod Brown, D-Ohio, Democratic Gov. Andy Beshear of Kentucky and Republican Gov. Mike DeWine of Ohio, the White House said.
Biden’s bipartisanship blitz was announced two days before Republicans retake control of the House from Democrats on Tuesday following GOP gains in the November elections. Hochul sworn in: New York Gov. Kathy Hochul was sworn in for her first elected term Sunday, making history as the first woman elected to the position in the state.
The Democrat, launching her term as the 57th governor of New York, said her goals were to increase public safety and to make the state more affordable.
“Right now there are some fights we have to take on,” Hochul said after taking the oath of office at the Empire State Plaza Convention Center in Albany. “First we must and will make our streets safer.”
Hochul also called for making the state more affordable, citing the high cost of living. Also sworn in Sunday was Lt. Gov. Antonio Delgado.
A native of Buffalo, Hochul, 64, defeated Republican congressman Lee Zeldin, an ally of Donald Trump, in November’s election to win the office that she took over in 2021 when former Gov. Andrew Cuomo resigned.
A former congresswoman, she served as Cuomo’s lieutenant governor before taking over in August 2021 and has tried to cast herself as a fresh start from Cuomo. He resigned amid sexual harassment allegations, which he denies.
California earthquake: A moderate New Year’s Day earthquake rattled the region of Northern California where a stronger quake nearly two weeks ago killed two people and left widespread damage, authorities said.
The earthquake with a preliminary magnitude of 5.4 struck at 10:35 a.m. Sunday about 9 miles southeast of Rio Dell in Humboldt County, according to the U.S. Geological Survey.
A dispatcher with the Humboldt County Sheriff ’s Office said there were no immediate reports of injuries or damage from Sunday’s quake.
Rio Dell was the epicenter of a magnitude 6.4 earthquake on Dec. 20 that killed two people, injured more than a dozen others, shook homes off foundations, damaged water systems and knocked out power to thousands.
Uganda fatal stampede: A stampede during New Year’s celebrations at a popular mall in Uganda’s capital, Kampala, left at least nine people dead, including children, police said Sunday.
The stampede happened at the Freedom City Mall in Namasuba suburb as revelers rushed to watch fireworks.
The Kampala Metropolitan deputy police spokesperson, Luke Owoyesigyire, said the incident appeared to have occurred at midnight “when an event emcee encouraged attendees to go outside and watch a fireworks display.”
The Katwe Territorial Police are “investigating an incident of rash (behavior) and neglect” according to an official statement.
No arrests have been made.
Police said five people died at the scene, and four others died of their injuries at the hospital where they had been taken for treatment.
There was no immediate information on other injured people.
The police said the bodies had been taken to the city mortuary in Mulago.
The shopping mall is a popular venue for music concerts and new year celebrations.