Erin Piacenti, a 32-year-old Bank of America vice president from Chester, New Jersey, was killed Monday afternoon in a stabbing near Times Square. The attacker, 49-year-old Pamela Cisneros of Queens, was shot by police at the scene and later died at NYC Health and Hospitals/Bellevue.

Police say Cisneros approached a 68-year-old man who had just left the subway near West 41st Street and Seventh Avenue and was waiting to cross the street with his wife.

A witness told investigators Cisneros pulled two knives from a red Target bag before stabbing the man in the abdomen. She then moved north toward 42nd Street and stabbed Piacenti.

NYPD Commissioner Jessica Tisch said the two attacks happened about 20 seconds apart and described both as random and unprovoked.

Officers opened fire after Tasers failed

Officers caught up with Cisneros, still carrying both knives, between 42nd and 43rd streets and spent several minutes urging her to drop them. She refused and threatened the officers, telling them she would rather kill them than put the knives down, according to Tisch's remarks.

When Tasers failed to stop her advance, two officers shot her. She was pronounced dead at Bellevue. Piacenti died at the same hospital; the 68-year-old man is in stable condition. Two officers involved were also taken to a hospital for evaluation.

Tisch called the incident an "unprovoked" double stabbing and said it unfolded in one of the city's busiest areas. Mayor Zohran Mamdani thanked the responding officers for preventing further harm and said the department would conduct an internal investigation, with body-camera footage to be made public.

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