One of the busiest tourist hubs in the United States, New York City’s Times Square, was the site of a shocking random violence incident on a Wednesday afternoon that left two people dead and one injured, city officials have confirmed.
At a press briefing shortly after the attack, New York City Mayor Zohran Mamdani confirmed the details of the incident, outlining that a 32-year-old female bystander and the 49-year-old female attacker both died after being transported to a local hospital. The third person involved, a 68-year-old man who was also stabbed, remains in stable condition, Mamdani added.
NYPD Commissioner Jessica Tisch expanded on the timeline of the rapidly unfolding attack, which she described as an unprovoked act of random violence. According to preliminary investigation data, the city’s 911 emergency call center began receiving multiple reports of the stabbing at approximately 4:24 p.m. local time. Witness accounts collected by investigators indicate the incident started near the intersection of West 41st Street and Seventh Avenue, when the suspect pulled two knives from a red Target bag before approaching her first victim.
That first victim, the 68-year-old man, had just exited a nearby subway station and was waiting to cross the street with his wife when he was attacked. The suspect stabbed him in the right abdomen, and he was quickly transported to Bellevue Hospital, where his condition has been updated to stable.
After the initial assault, the suspect continued moving north along Seventh Avenue toward 42nd Street, where she carried out a second stabbing that claimed the life of the 32-year-old female victim. Responding NYPD officers encountered the suspect moments later and attempted to de-escalate the situation for four minutes, ordering her repeatedly to drop her weapons. According to Tisch, the suspect refused all commands, telling officers “I’m not dropping anything, I’d rather kill both of you” and repeating threats to take their lives.
When the suspect advanced on officers while brandishing her blades, officers first attempted to stop her with a Taser. However, the less-lethal weapon proved ineffective, and the suspect continued moving toward the responding team. Faced with an immediate threat to their safety and the safety of nearby bystanders, officers opened fire, striking the suspect. She was rushed to Bellevue Hospital alongside the other victims, where she was later pronounced dead.
Investigators have since identified the attacker as Pamela Cisneros, a 49-year-old Queens resident. Tisch confirmed that Cisneros had no prior criminal arrests, but NYPD records show she had documented interactions with police related to mental health incidents in both 2018 and 2019.
Witnesses who were in the area during the attack described the chaotic scene that unfolded. Melinda Puzon, a tourist visiting New York from Boston, told reporters she heard the gunshots and immediately saw crowds of people scrambling in response. “It’s very shocking,” Puzon said of the incident in one of the city’s most crowded public spaces.
In his remarks, Mayor Mamdani extended his gratitude to the first responders who acted quickly to contain the threat, noting that their fast intervention “prevented a horrific attack from becoming even worse.”