Overview
- A woman armed with two knives stabbed a 68-year-old man and then a 32-year-old woman within about 20 seconds on Monday afternoon in Times Square, and the 32-year-old was later identified as Erin Piacenti.
- Bystanders flagged down officers and confronted the attacker between West 42nd and 43rd Streets, where officers spent roughly four minutes ordering her to drop the knives before deploying Tasers that did not stop her and two officers fired their service weapons.
- The suspect was identified as 49-year-old Pamela Cisneros of Queens; police say she had documented mental-health contacts in 2018 and 2019 but no prior arrests.
- Authorities say the attacks appear random and not terrorism-related, and the NYPD has recovered two knives and opened an internal investigation led by its force review unit.
- Times Square’s heavy foot traffic and past incidents mean the shooting will likely intensify public scrutiny of crowd safety, police use-of-force and the city’s response to acute mental-health crises.