Erin Piacenti Times Square Stabbing

The story so far

As of September 1, 2026

A broad-daylight stabbing in Times Square has left Erin Piacenti, 32, a vice president at Bank of America, dead and a 68-year-old man wounded. Police say the attacker, 49-year-old Pamela Cisneros of Queens, stabbed both victims near West 41st and West 42nd Streets at about 4:25 p.m. on August 31, then confronted officers. Piacenti was taken to Bellevue Hospital and died; the man is in stable condition.

The sequence is stark and fast. Cisneros pulled two large knives from a bag and first stabbed the 68-year-old man near West 41st Street and Seventh Avenue. Within roughly 20 seconds, she stabbed Piacenti in the abdomen near West 42nd and Seventh. Officers found Cisneros near the Times Square police substation. For about four minutes they ordered her to drop the knives. She refused, said she would kill them, and advanced. A Taser did not stop her. Two officers then fired. Cisneros was taken to a hospital and died. Two knives were recovered.

Investigators have found no connection between Cisneros and the victims and no clear motive. Police describe the attacks as random and unprovoked, with no sign of terrorism. The shooting by officers is under review by the New York Police Department’s Force Investigation Division, the unit that examines incidents where officers use their guns. City officials plan to release body-camera footage. The location matters: this happened steps from a police outpost in one of the city’s most crowded corridors, where there was another fatal stabbing in May, keeping safety in Midtown under close scrutiny.

Piacenti lived in Chester, New Jersey, and worked in Bank of America’s business selection and conflicts unit. She was a lawyer who graduated from the University of Pennsylvania in 2016 and Fordham Law in 2021, and her office at One Bryant Park sits just blocks from where she was attacked. She had recently marked her second wedding anniversary. Her employer said she was a valued colleague and expressed condolences to her family and loved ones.