NEW YORK CITY — A woman described by authorities as apparently emotionally disturbed was shot and killed by New York City police Monday afternoon after she allegedly stabbed two people in Times Square in what officials called a “random and unprovoked” attack.
Police identified one of the victims as 32-year-old Erin Piacenti of Chester, New Jersey, who later died at a hospital. Piacenti was an employee at Bank of America, which said in a statement that it was “shocked and deeply saddened by the tragic loss of our colleague.” The company added, “Our hearts go out to her family and all of her loved ones.”
According to a GoFundMe page, Piacenti and her husband had welcomed a baby girl five months ago. Monday marked her first day back at work following maternity leave.
Piacenti and her husband were both 2021 graduates of Fordham Law School. School officials said they were “heartbroken to learn of the tragic and senseless loss of our alumna.”
A second victim, a 68-year-old man from Rhode Island, was hospitalized with life-threatening injuries, officials said. He has since been listed in stable condition.
The victims were stabbed within 20 seconds of each other near 41st Street and Seventh Avenue, according to NYPD Commissioner Jessica Tisch.
The 68-year-old had just exited the subway and was waiting to cross the street with his wife when the suspect pulled two knives from a bag, waved them and then allegedly stabbed him in the abdomen “in what appears to be a random and unprovoked attack,” Tisch said at a press briefing.
The suspect then went up Seventh Avenue toward 42nd Street, where she approached the second victim, who was similarly stabbed in the abdomen in an apparently random, unprovoked attack, Tisch said.
The suspect allegedly then fled north toward the NYPD substation, authorities said. Witnesses flagged down officers who confronted her for four minutes and “gave her numerous commands to drop the knife,” which she refused, Tisch said.”
During the encounter, she told the officers, ‘I’m not dropping anything. I would rather kill both of you.’ She repeated, ‘I will kill you,'” Tisch said.
Officers deployed Tasers before two officers discharged their service weapons, Tisch said.
The suspect, identified by police as 49-year-old Pamela Cisneros of Queens, was pronounced dead at a hospital. She had a “documented mental health history,” Tisch said. Police officials stressed the woman appears emotionally disturbed and the incident is not terror-related.
Two knives were recovered from the scene.
“I want to thank the NYPD officers who stepped in and prevented a horrific attack from becoming even worse,” NYC Mayor Zohran Mamdani said during the press briefing. “This is what the men and women of this department do every single day to keep our city safe.”
The NYPD will conduct an internal investigation, and body-worn camera footage will be released to the public, the mayor said.
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