Zale Thompson, 32, was shot and killed by police after he charged at a police officers in Jamaica, Queens on Thursday afternoon.

Thompson charged at two police officers, Kenneth Healey, 25, and Officer Joseph Meeker, 24 (both recent graduates of the police academy), planting his axe into the side of Healey's head and slicing Meeker's arm. The two were posing for a photo on the street when Thompson attacked.

"He raised his arm up high and brought it straight down on the cop's head," eyewitness Larry Bethune told the New York Post. "The cop went down to the ground face-first...the cop's just lying there with blood pouring down his face. He didn't move."

Rudy Escamilla, a union representative for UPS who also witnessed the attack told the New York Daily News, "The cop was trying to get out of the way, but the guy was too fast. When he did cut the officer, the cops came over and that's when the officers opened fire."

Healy is currently listed as in critical but stable condition.

Police reportedly fired 19 rounds at Thompson, the Daily News writes. One bullet hit a woman standing nearby in her back; she underwent surgery at Jamaica Hospital and is currently in stable condition.

While both the Post and the Daily News report that Thompson is being investigated for alleged terrorist ties, New York City Police Commissioner William Bratton told reporters, "There's nothing we know at this time that would indicate that [Islamic terrorism] is the case."