Who Is Pamela Cisneros? Times Square Stabbing Murder Case

Pamela Cisneros was a 49-year-old Queens woman identified by New York City police as the attacker who stabbed two strangers in Times Square on August 31, 2026, killing 32-year-old Bank of America vice president Erin Piacenti and seriously injuring 68-year-old Rhode Island resident Tak Kam.

Police said the attacks were random and unprovoked. Officers confronted Cisneros minutes later while she was holding two large kitchen knives. After she refused repeated commands to drop the weapons and three officers unsuccessfully used Tasers, police said Cisneros advanced toward the officers. Two officers then shot her. Cisneros was taken to a hospital and pronounced dead.

Pamela Cisneros Times Square Stabbing Attack

Police Say Cisneros Attacked Two Strangers Within Seconds Of Each Other. The NYPD said Cisneros attacked Tak Kam near Seventh Avenue and West 41st Street before moving north and stabbing Erin Piacenti. Police described both attacks as random and unprovoked. [AP]

Cisneros Was Carrying Two Large Kitchen Knives. Police said she pulled the knives from a red Target shopping bag before stabbing Kam in the abdomen. She continued walking through Times Square with a knife in each hand. [New York Times]

The Two Victims Were Attacked In Less Than A Minute. Investigators said Cisneros stabbed Kam and then Piacenti in quick succession at approximately 4:30 p.m. in one of Manhattan’s busiest pedestrian areas. [New York Times]

Police Have Not Identified A Connection Between Cisneros And Either Victim. Authorities have continued to characterize the violence as a random attack rather than one directed at people Cisneros knew. [AP]

Tak Kam Stabbed

Tak Kam Was The First Person Attacked. Kam, 68, of Kingston, Rhode Island, had been visiting his son in Brooklyn and was preparing to return home when he was attacked. He and his wife were waiting to cross the street near West 41st Street and Seventh Avenue when Cisneros approached him. [Boston Globe]

Kam Was Stabbed In The Abdomen. Police said Cisneros pulled the knives from her shopping bag and stabbed Kam before continuing north on Seventh Avenue. [New York Times]

Kam Was Expected To Recover. He was taken to Bellevue Hospital in stable condition. Subsequent reporting said he was expected to recover from his injuries. [New York Times]

Erin Piacenti Murder

Cisneros Fatally Stabbed Erin Piacenti Moments Later. Piacenti, 32, was walking through Times Square on her way home from work when Cisneros stabbed her in the abdomen near West 42nd Street. [New York Times]

Piacenti Died At Bellevue Hospital. Emergency responders transported her to the hospital, where she was pronounced dead. [AP]

Piacenti Had Just Returned From Maternity Leave. August 31 was her first day back at work after spending five months on maternity leave following the birth of her daughter, Madison. [People]

Who Was Erin Piacenti?

Piacenti Was A Vice President At Bank Of America. She worked in the bank’s Business Selection and Conflicts organization and had been with Bank of America for approximately 18 months. [Reuters]

She Was An Attorney And Fordham Law Graduate. Piacenti graduated magna cum laude from Fordham University School of Law and previously worked at Davis Polk before joining Bank of America. She had earlier graduated from the University of Pennsylvania. [GoFundMe]

Piacenti And Her Husband Had A Five-Month-Old Daughter. Erin and Frank Piacenti had recently celebrated their second wedding anniversary and were raising their daughter Madison in Chester, New Jersey. [People]

Colleagues Remembered Piacenti As A Mentor. Bank of America coworkers described her as highly capable and said she regularly helped junior colleagues develop professionally. Her team planned to continue an annual holiday cookie tradition associated with Piacenti in her memory. [Business Insider]

Fundraiser For Erin Piacenti’s Daughter

A Fundraiser For Madison Raised Nearly $1 Million In Little More Than A Week. A GoFundMe organized by Piacenti’s brother-in-law in consultation with her husband and family had raised $960,576 from approximately 9,300 donations as of September 9, 2026. The campaign said the money would be used to support Madison as she grows up. [GoFundMe]

The Fundraiser Is Being Organized On Behalf Of Frank Piacenti. GoFundMe identifies Shray Gupta as the organizer and Frank Piacenti as the beneficiary, with funds intended to help support Madison’s future. [GoFundMe]

Police Confront Pamela Cisneros

Officers Located Cisneros Still Holding Two Knives. The New York Attorney General’s Office said police encountered her at approximately 4:26 p.m. on Seventh Avenue between West 42nd and West 43rd streets with a knife in each hand. [NY Attorney General]

Officers Tried For Several Minutes To Get Her To Drop The Weapons. Police Commissioner Jessica Tisch said officers engaged Cisneros for approximately four minutes while repeatedly ordering her to surrender the knives. [New York Times]

Police Said Cisneros Threatened The Officers. According to Tisch, Cisneros refused to disarm and told officers she would kill them while continuing to hold the knives. [AP]

Police Use Tasers And Then Open Fire

Three Officers Discharged Tasers. The Attorney General’s preliminary account says three NYPD officers fired Tasers at Cisneros, but the devices had no apparent effect. [NY Attorney General]

Police Say Cisneros Then Advanced Toward Officers. The Attorney General’s Office said Cisneros allegedly moved toward the officers while still holding the knives. [NY Attorney General]

Two Officers Fired Their Guns. Two NYPD officers discharged their service weapons and struck Cisneros. She was transported to a hospital, where she was pronounced dead. [NY Attorney General]

Pamela Cisneros Mental Health History

Police Said Cisneros Had A Documented Mental Health History. Commissioner Tisch said Cisneros had previously come into contact with NYPD officers in connection with mental-health-related incidents but did not have a New York City arrest record. [AP]

Police Encountered Cisneros During A Crisis In December 2018. An internal NYPD report reviewed by The New York Times said officers found her on Lexington Avenue near East 49th Street screaming and behaving belligerently. Officers determined that she was intoxicated. [New York Times]

Cisneros Tried To Jump In Front Of A Subway Train In March 2019. Police encountered her at the Union Turnpike-Kew Gardens station in Queens after she tried to jump in front of a southbound E train, according to an internal police report reviewed by The New York Times. [New York Times]

Her Father Said The Family Intervened After The Subway Incident. Mario Cisneros told The New York Times that he began taking his daughter to monthly hospital appointments where she received injections that appeared to help stabilize her condition. He said he did not know precisely what condition doctors were treating or which medication she received. [New York Times]

Her Father Said She Stopped Accompanying Him To Treatment In 2026. Mario Cisneros said that in April his daughter declined his offer to drive her to a regular appointment at Jamaica Hospital Medical Center and told him she could attend by herself. The New York Times reported that it was unclear whether she subsequently continued receiving treatment or medication. [New York Times]

Pamela Cisneros Personal Background

Cisneros Had Been Married And Had Two Daughters. Records reviewed by The New York Times showed that Cisneros and her former husband shared two daughters. The couple eventually separated, and Cisneros returned to Queens. [New York Times]

Her Husband Filed For Divorce In 2020. Florida court records reviewed by The New York Times showed that divorce proceedings included a custody dispute involving the couple’s younger daughter. [New York Times]

Cisneros Had Experienced Employment Problems. Court records cited by The New York Times showed that Cisneros reported in 2022 that she had left a job at Aflac and was having difficulty finding work in her field. [New York Times]

Motive For The Times Square Stabbings

Police Have Not Publicly Established A Motive. Authorities have continued to describe the attacks on Kam and Piacenti as random and unprovoked. Investigators have not reported evidence that Cisneros knew either victim before the attack. [AP]

Authorities Said There Was No Indication Of Terrorism. Police said investigators had no reason to believe the Times Square attack was connected to terrorism. [AP]

New York Attorney General Investigation

The Attorney General Opened An Independent Investigation Into Cisneros’ Death. On September 2, the New York Attorney General’s Office of Special Investigation announced that it was investigating the fatal police shooting. [NY Attorney General]

New York Law Requires OSI To Investigate Certain Deaths Involving Police. The office investigates incidents in which the actions or omissions of police or peace officers may have caused a civilian’s death, regardless of whether the person who died was armed. [NY Attorney General]

The Attorney General Says Its Account Remains Preliminary. OSI emphasized when announcing the investigation that the facts surrounding Cisneros’ death were preliminary and could change as investigators gathered additional evidence. [NY Attorney General]

The Investigation Remained Open As Of September 9. The Attorney General’s public database continued to list Pamela Cisneros’ August 31 death with an investigation announcement but no investigative findings, report or final disposition. [NY Attorney General]

NYPD Investigation

The NYPD Is Conducting Its Own Review Of The Shooting. The department’s Force Investigation Division is separately examining the officers’ use of deadly force.

The Police Shooting Was Captured By Body-Worn Cameras. Commissioner Tisch said the confrontation and shooting were recorded by officers’ body cameras. [AP]

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