Victim identified
The 32-year-old woman stabbed to death in a random knife attack Monday afternoon in New York City's Times Square has been identified as Erin Piacenti, of Chester, Morris County, New Jersey. The NYPD identified Piacenti on Tuesday, saying she died at an area hospital after being stabbed in the abdomen.
Piacenti was a vice president at Bank of America in New York, as reported by com, which cited the New York Post. A LinkedIn profile described her as vice president of business selection and conflicts at the bank, according to au. Bank of America issued a statement expressing shock and sadness at her death. "She was a valued teammate who will be greatly missed," a spokesperson said. "Our hearts go out to her family and all of her loved ones."
Piacenti, whose maiden name was Guiltinan, was a 2012 graduate of Villa Walsh Academy, a private girls' Catholic school in Morristown, New Jersey. According to her LinkedIn page, she earned an undergraduate degree from the University of Pennsylvania and a law degree from Fordham University. She and her husband had recently celebrated their second wedding anniversary, as reported by com.
The attack
The incident occurred just before 4:30 m. Monday near West 41st Street and Seventh Avenue, adjacent to a New York Police Department substation and One Times Square, the building that hosts the annual New Year's Eve ball drop. Police Commissioner Jessica Tisch said Pamela Cisneros, 49, of Queens, approached a 68-year-old tourist from Rhode Island, pulled two knives from a shopping bag, and stabbed the man in the abdomen as he stood with his wife waiting to cross the street. The man was hospitalized in stable condition.
About 20 seconds later, Cisneros continued north on Seventh Avenue and stabbed Piacenti in the abdomen near 42nd Street, Tisch said. Witnesses flagged down nearby officers, who confronted Cisneros between West 42nd and 43rd streets while she was still holding both knives. According to Tisch, officers spent about four minutes trying to persuade her to drop the knives, during which Cisneros told them, "I'm not dropping anything, I would rather kill both of you."
Police response
Videos posted on social media show at least 10 officers gathered around Cisneros as she held two large kitchen knives. Officers used a Taser, but it failed to incapacitate her; the video shows her walking quickly toward officers while waving the knives in front of herself. Two officers then opened fire, striking her. She was taken to Bellevue Hospital, where she died. The video also shows officers handcuffing her on the ground and rendering first aid.
Tisch said Cisneros had no arrest history with the NYPD but had a "documented mental health history" with the department, including incidents in 2018 and 2019. Investigators have no reason to believe the attack was an act of terrorism, she added.