Maine man charged with attempted murder in Times Square New Year's Eve machete attack

NEW YORK - A young man from Maine accused of attacking police with a machete near New York's Times Square on New Year's Eve, injuring two officers, was arrested Monday on attempted murder charges, police said Monday.

Trevor Bickford, 19, of Wells, Maine, also faces attempted assault charges, the New York Police Department said in a release.

Bickford was hospitalized after police shot him in the shoulder during the confrontation and was awaiting arraignment. It wasn't immediately clear whether he had a lawyer who could speak to the allegations.

A law enforcement official has told The Associated Press that investigators were looking into whether he was inspired by radical Islamic extremism. He was recently placed on an FBI terror watch list, according to CBS New York.

The violence happened about two hours before midnight Saturday, just outside the high-security zone where revelers are screened for weapons before gaining entry to one of the world's biggest and most famous New Year's celebrations.

Two of the officers were struck with the machete before the suspect was shot, authorities said. The two officers were hospitalized, one with a fractured skull and the other with a bad cut, and were expected to recover. So was the suspect.

Two law enforcement sources told CBS News that Bickford took a train from Maine to New York City and spent the night before the alleged attack in a homeless shelter downtown. They said a notebook was found in his backpack, containing writings that talked about wanting to go to Afghanistan and training to become a holy warrior, along with a note addressed to his family.

Investigators are at his Maine home executing a search warrant and combing through cell phone, social media accounts and financial records, the sources said.