A 49-year-old Queens resident randomly stabbed two people in New York City’s Times Square on Monday afternoon, killing a 32-year-old woman and wounding a 68-year-old man before police fatally shot her near a New York Police Department substation.
The attack unfolded just before 4:30 p.m. on Monday, August 31, 2026, in the heart of Manhattan at One Times Square, the building that hosts the city’s annual New Year’s Eve ball drop celebration. According to law enforcement officials, the suspect, identified as Pamela Cisneros of Queens, pulled two kitchen knives from a shopping bag and targeted bystanders near a New York Police Department substation in one of the city’s most heavily touristed and policed locations.
A Rapidly Unfolding Stabbing Spree Outside the Subway
The sequence of violence began when Cisneros targeted a 68-year-old man who had just exited a subway station and was waiting to cross the street with his wife at 41st Street and 7th Avenue, police confirmed. The male victim was struck in the abdomen and subsequently hospitalized in stable condition, according to NYPD Commissioner Jessica Tisch.
Within roughly 20 seconds of the first strike, authorities stated during a news conference, Cisneros approached a 32-year-old woman and stabbed her in the abdomen as well. The younger female victim succumbed to her injuries at the hospital, while police withheld both victims’ identities pending family notifications.
Bystander and social media videos captured a group of at least 10 officers converging on the scene as the suspect brandished two large knives, footage reviewed by news outlets shows. Officers engaged in a tense standoff lasting approximately four minutes, attempting to persuade the armed woman to surrender.
Confrontation and Police Response Near One Times Square
During the prolonged negotiation outside the NYPD substation, officers warned Cisneros that they would deploy a Taser if she refused to drop the blades. When a Taser was discharged, it failed to incapacitate her, and she continued to advance toward officers while waving the knives, according to video evidence and police statements.
“I’m not dropping anything, I would rather kill both of you.”
Pamela Cisneros, suspect
Following her refusal to comply and her advance on officers, two officers discharged their service weapons, striking her. Police handcuffed the wounded suspect on the ground and immediately rendered first aid before transporting her to Bellevue Hospital, where she was pronounced dead.
Mental Health History and Official Reactions
Commissioner Tisch reported that Cisneros had a documented mental health history with the NYPD
, which included prior department interactions in 2018 and 2019, though she possessed no prior arrest record within the department. Investigators confirmed there was no evidence suggesting terrorism.
Mayor Zohran Mamdani and Commissioner Tisch both commended the responding personnel for preventing further casualties in the crowded commercial hub.
“We know that 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.”
Mayor Zohran Mamdani
The incident marks the second fatal stabbing in Times Square this year, following an earlier homicide in May, even as overall violent crime rates in New York City show a sharp downward trend with homicides down 24%. Police temporarily cordoned off 7th Avenue with police tape as the investigation continued.
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