Attack in Times Square

A 49-year-old woman fatally stabbed a Bank of America executive in a random attack in Times Square on Monday afternoon, according to police and news reports. The victim was identified as Erin Piacenti, a 32-year-old Vice President at Bank of America, who was attacked near 42nd Street and Seventh Avenue, as reported by Hindustan Times and Times Now.

The suspect, Pamela Cisneros, first attacked a 68-year-old male tourist with kitchen knives near a West 41st Street subway exit before targeting Piacenti, according to Hindustan Times. The elderly victim is in stable condition at a hospital, the outlet reported.

Responding officers engaged Cisneros for approximately four minutes, but she refused to drop the weapons and threatened to kill the officers, according to Hindustan Times. During the encounter, she told officers, "I'm not dropping anything. I would rather kill both of you." She was subsequently shot dead by police.

Social Media Posts Surface

In the aftermath of the attack, social media posts attributed to Cisneros surfaced, in which she wrote about violence and religious prophecy months before the incident. In a Facebook post dated November 30, 2025, she wrote about "stabbing others for no reason" in the context of what she described as "end times," as reported by both Hindustan Times and Times Now.

"There is news of war, pestilence, earthquakes, the diminished love of people to the point of stabbing others for no reason, sex slavery in this country and around the globe, widespread drug use, persecution of the Christian believer on a global scale, worldwide hunger, homelessness, etc," Cisneros wrote, according to the reports. She added, "You can read it for yourself in the Holy Bible that warns about the end times."

In another post, which Times Now reported was from a month later, Cisneros asked why people felt "empty in their spirit" and urged readers to seek help through God. Hindustan Times also reported on a separate post in which she wrote about Satan and people hearing voices to kill themselves or others.

Mental Health History

NYPD Commissioner Jessica Tisch noted that Cisneros had a documented history of mental health incidents with police dating back to 2018 and 2019, though she had no prior arrests, according to Hindustan Times.