Trevor Bickford, 19, is expected to be arraigned on attempted murder charges sometime Tuesday.
The Maine teen charged in the attack on three NYPD officers has made statements to investigators that strengthen the belief their attack was motivated by Islamic extremism, law enforcement sources told ABC News.
From there, it's believed Bickford slept in a park in Forest Park, Queens. Police recovered a sleeping bag linked to the suspect, sources said. Investigators are interested in what brought him to the park in a remote part of the city and whether he intended to meet anyone.Bickford was charged Monday afternoon with attempted murder of a police officer and attempted assault. He could still face federal terrorism charges.
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.Staff and customers could be seen looking outside at what they thought were two people fighting. The attack is being investigated as a possible incident of terrorism because of online postings Bickford made before the attack.
After the suspect's mother flagged her son's gravitation toward Islamic extremism last month, the FBI interviewed Bickford and determined he sought to travel to Afghanistan to fight for the cause, law enforcement sources told ABC News.
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