Police fatally shot the 49-year-old suspect after officers said she refused repeated commands to drop two knives and advanced toward them.
NEW YORK — A 32-year-old woman was fatally stabbed and a 68-year-old man was wounded Monday afternoon in Times Square before New York City police shot and killed the woman they said carried out the apparently random attacks with two knives.
Police identified the woman who was shot as Pamela Cisneros, 49, of Queens. Police Commissioner Jessica Tisch said Cisneros stabbed the two victims about 20 seconds apart shortly before 4:30 p.m. Aug. 31 along Seventh Avenue. Officers confronted Cisneros near an NYPD substation, attempted for several minutes to persuade her to surrender the knives and used Tasers before two officers fired their service weapons, according to police. Cisneros and the female victim were pronounced dead at Bellevue Hospital. The male victim was listed in stable condition.
The violence began near West 41st Street and Seventh Avenue, according to investigators. Tisch said the 68-year-old man had just come out of a subway station and was waiting to cross the street with his wife when Cisneros approached. A witness told investigators that Cisneros removed two knives from a shopping bag before confronting the man. Police said she stabbed him in the abdomen in what investigators described as a random and unprovoked attack.
Cisneros then continued north on Seventh Avenue toward West 42nd Street, where police said she encountered a 32-year-old woman and stabbed her in the abdomen. Police cameras captured that attack, Tisch said. Both victims were rushed to Bellevue Hospital. The woman died from her injuries, while the man initially had life-threatening injuries before his condition stabilized. Authorities had not released either victim’s name Monday night pending notification of relatives and had not said whether they were New York residents or visitors.
Witnesses then directed officers toward Cisneros, who was still carrying the two knives between West 42nd and West 43rd streets, police said. Tisch said officers spent about four minutes repeatedly ordering her to put down the weapons. Cisneros refused and threatened the officers, according to the commissioner. Police then deployed Tasers, but officials said the devices did not stop her.
Police said Cisneros began waving the knives and moving toward officers after the attempts to subdue her failed. Two officers opened fire, striking her. Officers then secured the scene and provided first aid before Cisneros was taken to Bellevue Hospital, where she was pronounced dead. Police recovered two large knives from the scene. Video recorded by witnesses also showed officers surrounding the armed woman before the shooting, according to The Associated Press.
Tisch said Cisneros had documented mental health-related contacts with the NYPD in 2018 and 2019 but had no arrest history with the department. Officials did not provide additional details about those earlier contacts, and authorities had not established a motive for Monday’s attacks. Police said there was no evidence indicating the incident was connected to terrorism.
The confrontation unfolded in one of the busiest pedestrian areas in New York, near One Times Square and an NYPD substation. Thousands of commuters, tourists, workers and families routinely pass through the area. Tisch described the incident as an extremely dangerous situation in a crowded public space and said officers faced a rapidly developing threat. Mayor Zohran Mamdani also praised the officers for intervening while expressing condolences to the victims and their families.
The shooting prompted police to close portions of Seventh Avenue and surrounding streets while investigators processed the scene. The incident marked another fatal act of violence in Times Square after a man was stabbed to death in the area in May, according to The Associated Press. That comes as overall killings in New York City have fallen sharply in 2026, with the AP reporting homicides were down 24% compared with the same period a year earlier.
The NYPD will conduct an internal investigation into the officers’ use of deadly force, Mamdani said. Police body-camera footage captured the confrontation and is expected to be released as part of that process. Investigators also continued reviewing video and witness accounts Monday night. The surviving 68-year-old victim remained hospitalized in stable condition, while authorities had not announced a motive for the two stabbings.