It looked like a scene out of a horror movie Monday afternoon as a crazed woman rampaged through New York City’s Times Square. Officers shot her when she refused to drop her weapons, and she was later pronounced dead at a hospital. Authorities identified her as 49-year-old Pamela Cisneros, of Queens.
Sadly, she took the life of an innocent victim before she was taken out: 32-year-old Bank of America Vice President Erin Piacenti, of Chester, New Jersey, who was stabbed in the abdomen. Cisneros went on to knife a 68-year-old male, also in the abdomen; he is in stable condition and receiving medical care.
NYPD Commissioner Jessica Tisch called the stabbing spree a "random and unprovoked attack" in a press conference following the murderous spree.
Footage shows the NYPD tasing a woman armed with a knife yesterday.
— Open Source Intel (@Osint613) September 1, 2026
NYPD officers repeatedly tased a woman armed with 2 knives after police say she randomly stabbed 2 people, killing a 32 year old woman and seriously wounding a 68 year old man.
The Tasers failed to stop her.…
Footage shows the NYPD tasing a woman armed with a knife yesterday. NYPD officers repeatedly tased a woman armed with 2 knives after police say she randomly stabbed 2 people, killing a 32 year old woman and seriously wounding a 68 year old man. The Tasers failed to stop her. She then advanced toward officers with the knives before police opened fire, killing her.
Piacenti, who had recently celebrated her second wedding anniversary, was just walking in the area. She did not deserve to die that day:
NYC, NY -
— Blanche Victoria (@tammytabby) September 1, 2026
Erin Piacenti, 32, of Chester, New Jersey, was fatally stabbed near the Crossroads of the World on Monday afternoon before the suspect, who also wounded an elderly man in the violent rampage, was shot dead by police.
Piacenti was employed by Bank of America in New York… pic.twitter.com/cfC0y0p6zN
NYC, NY -
Erin Piacenti, 32, of Chester, New Jersey, was fatally stabbed near the Crossroads of the World on Monday afternoon before the suspect, who also wounded an elderly man in the violent rampage, was shot dead by police.
Piacenti was employed by Bank of America in New York City, working as the Vice President of Business Selection and Conflicts, sources told The Post.
Both victims were stabbed within 20 seconds of each other as Cisneros raged through the Square. NYPD officers did their best to defuse the situation, but ultimately had to take the most severe action.
During the four-minute stalemate, officers repeatedly warned her to drop the weapons, to which she replied "I’m not dropping anything. I would rather kill both of you," Tisch explained.
Cisneros then allegedly began advancing towards the officers waving her blades. Officers, according to Tisch, deployed tasers, which did not slow Cisneros' advance. It was at that point two officers discharged their firearms, striking Cisneros.
"Our officers were confronted with a rapidly evolving threat, with countless innocent people around them," Tisch said. "In that moment, they did what we train them to do."
Although Cisneros did not have a criminal record, she had reportedly interacted with law enforcement officers multiple times before over mental health episodes.
Witnesses’ recording of the horrific incident is terrifying. Warning: Disturbing footage and profanity.
🚨 BREAKING: A deranged woman has been SHOT by NYPD after she was running around STABBING people in Times Square
— Nick Sortor (@nicksortor) August 31, 2026
NYC looks like a TOTAL third world country.
SURGE DHS INTO NYC NOW! This is RIDICULOUS. pic.twitter.com/cXo2PJnlPJ
The NYPD officers did what they had to do, and we laud them for it. Tragically, it was too late for Erin Piacenti.
Editor’s Note: The American people overwhelmingly support President Trump’s law and order agenda.
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