The Latest: Sheriff says Arizona man faces terrorism charge

PHOENIX (AP) — The Latest on an 18-year-old Arizona man facing a terrorism charge (all times local):

5 p.m.

Authorities say an Arizona man who faces a terrorism charge for brandishing a knife in an encounter with a sheriff’s sergeant was carrying out a “lone wolf” attack.

At a news conference Thursday, Maricopa County Sheriff Paul Penzone says 18-year-old Ismail Hamed told a dispatcher before the Jan. 7 attack that he had an affiliation with a terror group.

Hamed was previously charged with aggravated assault for allegedly throwing rocks at the sergeant and brandishing a knife outside a sheriff’s substation in Fountain Hills.

Investigators say the sergeant shot Hamed after he ignored repeated warnings to drop the weapon.

A terrorism charge accusing Hamed of assisting the Islamic State was filed Tuesday.

A woman at the office of Hamed’s attorney, Faisal Ullah, says the law firm has no comment.

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7 a.m.

An 18-year-old Phoenix-area man shot by a sheriff’s sergeant during an encounter outside a sheriff’s substation is accused of acting to assist the Islamic State group.

A complaint filed Tuesday in Maricopa County Superior Court accuses Ismail Hamed of two counts of terrorism. One accuses him of providing assistance to IS and the other accuses him of engaging in an act of terrorism.

Hamed previously was charged with a charge of aggravated assault with a deadly weapon accusing him of brandishing a knife while speaking with a Maricopa County sheriff’s sergeant in the parking lot of the substation in Fountain Hills before the sergeant shot and wounded him on Jan. 7.

Faisal Ullah, an attorney representing Hamad in the assault case, did not immediately respond to a request for comment.