NYPD Bodycam Shows Standoff After Exec Fatally Stabbed in Times Square

Newly released NYPD body-camera video captures officers urging Pamela Cisneros to drop two knives and “just breathe” shortly before police fatally shot the woman accused of killing a New Jersey mother in Times Square.

The footage, released Friday, shows officers spending roughly four minutes attempting to de-escalate the confrontation with Cisneros, 49, outside One Times Square. Authorities said she had stabbed two people only minutes earlier.

Throughout the standoff, Cisneros refused repeated orders to surrender. She told officers she was “tired of this world” and warned that police would have to kill her.

“There’s a lot to live for,” one officer told her.

“The world is hard. Especially New York City,” the officer continued. “Trust me, we all suffer. But this is not the way.”

As officers tried to establish a connection with Cisneros, one asked whether she believed in God.

“No. Not anymore,” Cisneros answered.

Officers repeatedly told Cisneros that they were there to help her.

“We’re trying to help you,” one officer said.

The situation became increasingly tense when Cisneros said police would have to kill her.

“You’re going to have to kill me,” she said.

Moments afterward, she added, “Either that or I’m going to kill all of you.”

Police continued ordering Cisneros to “drop the knife” and “just breathe,” but she would not surrender.

At about 4:29 p.m., officers used Tasers after Cisneros began waving both knives. The devices failed to stop her. When she moved toward officers with the blades pointed at them, police opened fire and struck her. She was transported to Bellevue Hospital, where she was pronounced dead.

Police recovered both knives at the scene.

Authorities said the confrontation started minutes after Cisneros stabbed a 68-year-old man near West 41st Street and Seventh Avenue, leaving him seriously injured.

She then walked north while carrying a knife in each hand before fatally stabbing 32-year-old Erin Piacenti, of Chester, New Jersey, near West 42nd Street about 20 seconds later.

Transit officers encountered Cisneros outside One Times Square about a minute later and repeatedly ordered her to drop the knives while attempting to engage her in conversation. Additional officers soon arrived and joined the effort to de-escalate the confrontation.

Piacenti, a Bank of America executive and Fordham Law graduate, had returned to work just days earlier after spending five months on maternity leave caring for her newborn daughter. She died from her injuries. The 68-year-old man survived after suffering a stab wound to the abdomen.

Police have described the attacks as random and unprovoked.

The NYPD said Cisneros had documented mental health-related encounters with the department in 2018 and 2019 but no prior arrest record. There was no indication the attack was related to terrorism.

The NYPD’s Force Investigation Division continues to investigate the shooting before the case is presented to the department’s Use of Force Review Board.