NEW YORK – Police hunted Wednesday for a man who entered a psychologist’s office with a bag of knives and a meat cleaver, hacking her to death so savagely that blood spattered the walls and floor and the entire room was torn apart.

A colleague who responded to the victim’s screams was seriously injured, and investigators were trying to determine whether the attacker was a patient at the clinic. Three knives were recovered at the scene, including a 9-inch knife and cleaver, police said.

Kathryn Faughey suffered 15 stab wounds, including a gash to her head believed to be from the cleaver, police said.

“The condition of the room was that of a fierce struggle,” police spokesman Paul Browne said.

Investigators do not know the name of the suspect. Authorities released a sketch of a balding, middle-aged man believed to be the killer along with surveillance videotapes of the attacker entering and leaving the building.

He left behind two bags that contained bizarre clues, authorities said.

Associated Press writers David B. Caruso and Verena Dobnik contributed to this report