New York City police shot and killed a woman on Monday after she stabbed two people in Times Square, according to city authorities during a press conference. The suspect, identified as 49-year-old Pamela Cisneros of Queens, was pronounced dead at Bellevue hospital, where one of her victims also died.
Random and unprovoked attacks
Jessica Tisch, the New York City police commissioner, described the stabbings as “random and unprovoked” acts carried out by a woman with previous mental health problems. Tisch said Cisneros wielded two knives as she approached a 68-year-old man at Times Square and stabbed him in the abdomen. Moments later, she stabbed a woman in the stomach.
All three people – Cisneros and the two stabbing victims – were taken to Bellevue hospital, where Cisneros and the female victim were pronounced dead. The man is alive and in stable condition.
Police confrontation and shooting
Soon after the stabbings, police confronted Cisneros and tried to stop her. Authorities said they spoke with her for approximately 4 minutes but did not convince her to drop her knives. Tisch, who had reviewed body camera footage of the incident, said Cisneros told police: “I’m not dropping anything, I would rather kill both of you.”
Multiple officers tried to subdue Cisneros with stun guns, but she continued to move toward them with the knives. Then two officers fired their service weapons at Cisneros. The shooting was captured on body cameras, according to Tisch.
Officials defend use of force
Both Tisch and Zohran Mamdani, the New York City mayor, defended the officers’ lethal use of force, though it will be investigated, which is standard for officer-involved shootings in New York. “I want to thank the NYPD officers who stepped in and prevented a horrific attack from becoming even worse,” Mamdani said.
