Erin Piacenti, a 32-year-old Bank of America executive and new mother, was fatally stabbed in Times Square just days after returning to work from maternity leave.
Piacenti, who lived in Chester, New Jersey, was making her way home from work on Monday afternoon when she paused near a street vendor selling sunglasses and baseball caps. Police say Pamela Cisneros Lopez, 49, then attacked her with one of two kitchen knives.
The assault was part of an apparently random stabbing spree in which a 68-year-old man was also wounded. The attacks took place within about 20 seconds near Seventh Avenue and West 41st Street, according to the New York Police Department.
Piacenti was stabbed in the abdomen and taken to Bellevue Hospital, where she later died. The male victim, a Rhode Island resident who had been visiting his son in Brooklyn with his wife, remained in a stable condition, CBS New York reported.
Police said Cisneros removed the knives from a red shopping bag before approaching the couple as they waited to cross the road. She then moved up Seventh Avenue and attacked Piacenti.
Piacenti had only recently completed her first week back at Bank of America after taking five months of maternity leave. A relative described her to The New York Times as a “beautiful, beautiful girl”.
In a social media post published four days before her death, Piacenti shared a photograph of herself with her newborn daughter and her husband, Frank. She wrote about being grateful for the time spent on maternity leave and marked her daughter’s baptism alongside the couple’s second wedding anniversary.
The couple graduated together from Fordham Law School in 2021 and married in August 2024. Fordham said they had been “cherished members” of its law school community.
Bank of America said it was “shocked and deeply saddened by the tragic loss of our colleague”, adding that Piacenti was “a valued teammate who will be greatly missed”.
Police shooting in Times Square
After the stabbings, Cisneros was confronted by officers close to a Times Square police substation. Officers spoke to her for about four minutes and repeatedly ordered her to drop the knives, police said.
Police Commissioner Jessica Tisch said Cisneros told officers: “I’m not dropping anything. I would rather kill both of you.” She also allegedly repeated: “I will kill you.”
Several officers fired Tasers, but they failed to stop her. Video recorded by bystanders showed Cisneros advancing while waving the knives before two officers opened fire.
She was taken to hospital, where she died. Both knives were recovered at the scene.
Tisch said Cisneros had a documented mental health history involving the NYPD, including incidents in 2018 and 2019, but had no arrest record. Police said there was no evidence that the attack was terrorism-related.
Mayor Zohran Mamdani and Commissioner Tisch praised the officers who intervened, saying that more people could have been injured or killed if the armed woman had not been stopped.
The shooting was captured on officers’ body-worn cameras, and Mamdani said the footage would be released at a later date. The NYPD’s investigation remains ongoing.
