Washington policeman injured in struggle with ax-wielding attacker

(Reuters) - A Washington police officer was injured early Friday in a struggle with an ax-wielding attacker who remains at large, police in the nation's capital said. The officer, who has not been identified, was hurt during the confrontation but not directly by the ax, which police recovered at the scene, said Araz Alali, a spokesman for the Metropolitan Police Department. "It was completely unprovoked, and he was ambushed by the perpetrator," Alali said. The suspect approached the officer and swung the ax at him at about 3 a.m., then struggled with the officer before fleeing through an alley on foot, Alali said. Police said they are investigating whether the Friday morning attack is connected to a hatchet-wielding man's daytime attack last week in New York City against two police officers on patrol. One New York officer was critically injured in the Oct. 23 attack in which police shot and killed the suspect at the scene. New York law enforcement officials have said the suspect was a self-radicalized convert to Islam who they believe acted alone in what they called a terrorist attack. (Reporting by Brendan O'Brien in Milwaukee; Editing by Susan Heavey)