Woman Killed in Random Times Square Stabbing; NYPD Fatally Shoots Suspect

NEW YORK, UNITED STATES — A 32-year-old woman was killed and a 68-year-old man wounded in an apparently random Times Square stabbing before police fatally shot the armed suspect.

A woman armed with two large knives stabbed two people within seconds of each other in Times Square on Monday afternoon, killing a 32-year-old woman and wounding a 68-year-old man before New York City police shot and killed the suspect, authorities said.

Police Commissioner Jessica Tisch identified the suspect as Pamela Cisneros, 49, of Queens. Investigators said the attacks appeared to be random and unprovoked, and authorities said there was no initial indication that the incident was related to terrorism.

The violence began shortly after 4:20 p.m. on August 31 near West 41st Street and Seventh Avenue, according to police accounts. A witness told investigators that Cisneros removed two knives from a shopping bag before approaching a 68-year-old man who had just exited the subway and was waiting to cross the street with his wife.

Cisneros stabbed the man in the abdomen and then continued north along Seventh Avenue. About 20 seconds later, police said, she stabbed a 32-year-old woman, also in the abdomen. Both victims were taken to Bellevue Hospital, where the woman later died. The man was listed in stable condition.

Authorities had not released either victim's name pending notification of their families.

Officers tried Tasers before opening fire

Witnesses alerted officers in the heavily policed Times Square area, and police confronted Cisneros on Seventh Avenue between West 42nd and West 43rd streets.

Tisch said officers spent about four minutes ordering Cisneros to drop the knives. She refused and threatened the officers during the confrontation, according to the commissioner.

Multiple officers then deployed Tasers, but the devices did not stop her. Police said Cisneros continued advancing toward officers while carrying the knives, prompting two officers to fire their service weapons.

Cisneros was taken to Bellevue Hospital, where she was pronounced dead. The two knives were recovered at the scene.

Tisch said the confrontation was recorded by officers' body-worn cameras. Mayor Zohran Mamdani said the footage would be released, while the police shooting will undergo an internal investigation.

Police say attacks appeared random and unprovoked

Police said Cisneros had no arrest history but had a documented mental-health history involving NYPD encounters in 2018 and 2019. Authorities have not identified a motive for the stabbings and said the preliminary investigation did not indicate a terrorist attack.

The attack unfolded in one of New York City's busiest pedestrian and tourist districts, close to the NYPD substation near One Times Square. Mamdani expressed condolences to the victims and their families while addressing the police response to an armed suspect in the crowded area.

The investigation remains active. Police have said the body-camera recordings will be released, providing a further record of the approximately four-minute confrontation that preceded the fatal police shooting