Chaos in Times Square: Woman Fatally Stabbed Before Police Shooting
A maniac was shot dead by police in the heart of Times Square Monday after she stabbed two people, one fatally, and confronted cops while wildly waving two knives and threatening to kill them, the NYPD said. The caught-on-camera mayhem erupted in the Crossroads of the World after Pamela Cisneros, 49, randomly knifed a man and a woman in a 20-second span near West 41st Street and Seventh Avenue just before 4:30 p.m., cops said.Officers found Cisneros a block away behind an NYPD substation, waving two knives at them, according to sources and harrowing footage of the confrontation. The knife-wielding suspect approaches NYPD officers in Times Square after allegedly stabbing two people near West 43rd Street and 7th Avenue. Obtained by the NY PostPolice shot and killed the suspect after he allegedly stabbed two people near West 43rd Street and Seventh Avenue. Obtained by the NY PostCops spoke to the woman for four minutes and gave her “numerous commands” to drop the knives, but she refused, NYPD Commissioner Jessica Tisch said at a press conference on Monday night.“I’m not dropping anything, I would rather kill both of you. I will kill you,” Cisneros told cops during the encounter, Tisch said.Officers discharged several tasers at Cisneros, but they “proved to be ineffective,” and she continued charging toward officers with the knives, according to Tisch.Multiple witnesses recalled seeing droves of panicked people running from the scene after shots were fired. Obtained by the NY PostAn NYPD officer holding the knife used in the stabbings in Times Square on Aug. 31, 2026. Tamara Beckwith/NY PostTwo officers then opened fire, striking the Cisneros, who had a known history of mental illness with the department. She was pronounced dead at Bellevue Hospital.The unprovoked stabbings and subsequent shooting all occured in roughly 20 minutes and sent panicked tourists and commuters scrambling for safety. “As I’m coming out of the building, I see people running west. I was like, what the hell is going on?,” a delivery worker recalled of the pandemonium that ensued after the shooting. Earlier, Cisneros, of Queens, whipped out two knives from a red Target bag and stabbed the first victim, a 68-year-old man, in the abdomen as he exited the subway on West 41st Street and was waiting to cross the street, Tisch said.NYPD officers surrounding a suspect lying on the ground in Times Square. Obtained by the NY PostThe knife-wielding woman then continued up to 42nd Street and fatally stabbed a 32-year-old woman in the abdomen in an “unprovoked attack,” the commishioner told reporters.Multiple videos posted to social media captured Cisneros, who was wearing a pink shirt, jeans, and a crossbody purse, then flailing the weapons in front of police and a large crowd of onlookers.She was shot after she began hobbling towards the cops with the knives.“Oh sh-t, Oh sh-t,” terrified pedestrians yelled as they ran for cover and officers began attending to the knife-wielding woman. The NYPD said the suspect’s two knives were recovered.A worker delivering a package in the area recalled coming out of a building and seeing crowds hurriedly fleeing west — before he noticed a victim on the ground. “It was a man … he was lying on the floor and there was blood on him. The police were tending to him. I asked tourist what happened and she said there was a Mexican lady and she stabbed two people.”“It’s crazy. Why was she having two knives- those were kitchen knives. That’s crazy.” Hassan Abdallah, 41, who works at a fruit cart stand on 41st Street and Seventh Avenue, witnessed a woman tend to a stabbing victim, who appeared to be her husband.“I heard a lady screaming and then people were running like crazy. I went outside [the cart]. I saw an old guy, like 60, Asian. He was standing, holding his back,” Abdallah said. “He got stabbed. His wife was trying to stop the bleeding. She was using a book or some paper, then someone gave her a scarf. I gave him a paper towel. His wife told him to lay on the floor.”Cisneros has a documented history of mental illness with the NYPD, with one incident in 2018 and another in 2019. She has no previous arrests, the top cop continued.The shooting was caught on police body cameras, and an internal investigation into the shooting is underway, Mayor Zohran Mamdani said at the press conferenceThe incident is not believed to be terrorism-related. A motive is not yet known.“This was an extraordinarily dangerous situation unfolding in the heart of Times Square, the Crossroads of the World, at any given moment, there are thousands of New Yorkers, commuters, tourists, families, workers, moving through these streets,” Tisch told reporters.Blood is seen on the ground at the scene of the stabbings on Monday afternoon. Tamara Beckwith/NY PostFirst responders in Times Square after police officers shot a woman after she stabbed two people. Tamara Beckwith/New York Post“Our officers were confronted with a rapidly evolving threat with countless innocent people around them. In that moment they did what we trained them to do,” she said.“But tonight, our thoughts are, of course, with the victims of this horrific attack and their families. One life, cut far too short by a senseless act of violence.”Mamdani echoed Tisch’s sentiments at the press conference, expressing that the thoughts of the whole city were with the victims’ families.“Our thoughts, not only for those of us who are here right now, but of the entire city, are with the families of both of these victims. We know those families’ lives have been shattered by what took place today, and we will continue to hold them close as the hours and days and weeks continue from this moment,” Mamdani said.“I want to thank the NYPD officers who stepped in and prevented a horrific attack from becoming even worse. This is what the men and women of this department do every single day to keep this city safe,” the mayor continued.“Our hearts go out to the victims and their families at this time. We are thankful that once again the NYPD was swift to act and put themselves in harm’s way to stop the perpetrator before more were injured.” Tom Harris, President of the Times Square Alliance, said in a statement. Additional reporting by Amanda Woods
