Times Square stabbing leaves New Jersey woman dead as NYPD kills suspect after failed Taser attempt
By Amanda Mark I SCN NEWS
NEW YORK — A New Jersey woman was killed and a 68-year-old man wounded in what New York police described as two random and unprovoked stabbings in the heart of Times Square, before officers fatally shot the knife-wielding suspect following a confrontation steps from an NYPD substation. The victim who died was identified Tuesday as Erin Piacenti, 32, of Chester, New Jersey, while police identified the alleged attacker as Pamela Cisneros of Queens.
The violence unfolded shortly after 4:20 p.m. Monday around Seventh Avenue and West 41st Street, one of the most crowded pedestrian and tourist zones in the United States. According to Police Commissioner Jessica Tisch, Cisneros removed two large knives from a red shopping bag and approached a 68-year-old man who had just exited the subway and was waiting with his wife to cross the street. Police said she waved the weapons before stabbing him in the abdomen.
About 20 seconds later, police said, the attacker moved north along Seventh Avenue and stabbed Piacenti in the abdomen. Both victims were rushed to hospitals. Piacenti later died from her injuries, while the male victim was reported Tuesday to be in critical but stable condition. Police said the attacks appeared random and unprovoked, and investigators have disclosed no evidence that either victim knew the suspect.
Piacenti worked for Bank of America as a vice president in business selection and conflicts, according to ABC7, citing her social-media profile. She graduated from the University of Pennsylvania in 2016 and Fordham Law School in 2021. Bank of America said it was shocked and deeply saddened by the death of a colleague it described as a valued member of its team, extending condolences to her family and loved ones.
After the stabbings, witnesses alerted officers as Cisneros continued north toward the NYPD substation near One Times Square, police said. Officers confronted her while she was still holding both knives. Tisch said police spent approximately four minutes attempting to persuade her to put the weapons down, issuing repeated commands before officers deployed Tasers. According to the commissioner, Cisneros threatened to kill the officers and continued advancing after the Tasers failed to incapacitate her.
Two officers then discharged their firearms, striking Cisneros. Bystander video reviewed by news organizations shows multiple officers surrounding the armed woman before the shooting and officers subsequently providing aid. Cisneros was transported to a hospital and pronounced dead. Police recovered both knives, and the NYPD has opened an internal investigation into the officers' use of deadly force. Mayor Zohran Mamdani said body-worn camera footage from the encounter will be released publicly.
Police have explicitly said investigators have found no indication that the attack was terrorism-related. Tisch said Cisneros had a documented history of mental-health-related encounters with the NYPD dating to 2018 and 2019 but no arrest history with the department. That history does not by itself establish what caused Monday's attack, and authorities have not announced a motive.
The location magnified the public-safety impact. The shooting occurred beside the NYPD substation near One Times Square, immediately outside the building associated with New York's New Year's Eve ball drop and within one of the city's most intensely monitored areas. Police temporarily closed sections of Seventh Avenue as investigators processed the scene. Despite the highly visible attack, broader city data cited by the Associated Press show violent crime has been falling sharply in 2026, with homicides down about 24% so far this year. Monday's death was nevertheless the second killing in Times Square this year, after a man was fatally stabbed in the area in May.
The case now carries two parallel investigations: detectives must determine why an apparently unprovoked attack unfolded within seconds in one of America's busiest public spaces, while the NYPD must review the officers' decision to use lethal force after several minutes of commands and unsuccessful Taser deployments. The available evidence establishes a rapid sequence — two strangers stabbed within roughly 20 seconds, witnesses alerting nearby police, a four-minute armed confrontation and an attempted less-lethal intervention before officers opened fire — but the motive behind the original attack remains unknown.