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Police were responding to a dispute between the man and a woman, the Post reports:

“The cops yelled ‘Drop it!’” said rattled eyewitness Larry Bethune, 44, of Hollis, Queens, recalling the moment the psycho pulled a small hatchet from his jacket. “And he lunged at one of them,” the witness remembered. “He raised his arm up high and brought it straight down on the cop’s head. “The cop went down to the ground, face first. It was horrible. I’ve never seen anything like that on Jamaica Avenue,” he added. “The cop’s just lying there with blood pouring down his face. He didn’t move.”

(Excerpt) Read more at gothamist.com posted at FR earlier here

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NBC: Cop Attacked With Ax in Queens, Suspect Shot Dead: Police

"Cops The officers, all recent graduates of the Police Academy assigned to the 103rd Precinct in Jamaica, were asked to pose for a picture by a freelance photographer at the intersection of 162nd Street and Jamaica Avenue shortly before 2 p.m. when the man attacked them from behind, Police Commissioner William Bratton said.
The suspect "charged at the officers with a hatchet in his hand," Bratton said. "Unprovoked and not speaking a word, the male then swung at one of the officers with a hatchet, striking his right arm. After striking that officer, the suspect continuing swinging the hatchet, striking a second officer in the head."

NBC cache:

The man is captured on video pulling the 12-inch hatchet from a black backpack, police say.