Woman killed in Times Square stabbing, suspect shot dead by police

A 32-year-old woman has been killed and another victim is in hospital following a double stabbing in Times Square, New York late on Monday afternoon.

The suspect, a woman wielding two knives, was shot by police. All three people were taken to hospital, where the female victim and the suspect were later pronounced dead, Mayor Zohran Mamdani told a news conference.

The deceased victim was later identified as Erin Piacenti, a Bank of America employee. The male victim remains in a stable condition.

New York Police Department (NYPD) Commissioner Jessica Tisch described the attack as "unprovoked" and said the stabbings took place 20 seconds apart.

Citing preliminary information, Tisch said the NYPD call centre received several 911 calls at approximately 16:24 local time (21:00 BST) reporting a woman armed with two knives was stabbing people along Seventh Avenue in Times Square.

Police believe the incident began near West 41st Street and Seventh Ave, in Midtown Manhattan.

The suspect approached a man who had just exited the subway and was standing with his wife waiting to cross the street, Tisch told a news conference.

"A witness at the scene told investigators that he observed the subject remove two knives from a red Target bag before approaching the first victim.

"The subject waved the knives before stabbing a 68-year-old man in the right side of his abdomen, in what appears to be a random and unprovoked attack."

The 68-year-old was taken to Bellevue Hospital and is now stable.

The suspect continued up Seventh Avenue towards 42nd Street, which is where she stabbed the second victim, Piacenti, who did not survive after being taken to hospital.

Bank of America said in a statement to the BBC: "We are shocked and deeply saddened by the tragic loss of our colleague. She was a valued teammate who will be greatly missed. Our hearts go out to her family and all of her loved ones."

The suspect continued on Seventh Avenue, which is when police tried to get her to drop her weapons, speaking to her for four minutes, the NYPD commissioner said.

"During the encounter she told the officers 'I'm not dropping anything, I'd rather kill both of you'. She repeated 'I will kill you'," Tisch said.

The suspect waved knives towards the officers, who then used Tasers, which were "ineffective" and did not stop her from heading towards them.

NYPD officers then shot the woman, who was later also pronounced dead at Bellevue Hospital.

The suspect was later identified as 49-year-old Pamela Cisneros of Queens, New York City. She had never previously been arrested but had a "documented mental health history with the NYPD, with one incident in 2018 and one in 2019", Tisch added.

A tourist from Boston, Melinda Puzon, told the BBC's US reporting partner CBS News that she heard the shots and saw "so many people on the street".

Correction: This story has been updated to reflect that the incident happened on Monday after a previous version said it was on Wednesday

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