A woman, who had a known history of mental illness within the New York Police Department (NYPD), was fatally shot this Monday in Times Square after stabbing two people, one fatally, and confronting officers while violently wielding two kitchen knives and threatening to kill them, the NYPD reported.
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The chaos, captured by numerous cameras as it occurred in a very busy tourist area, erupted after Pamela Cisneros, 49, randomly stabbed a man and a woman within 20 seconds near 41st Street and Seventh Avenue, around four-thirty in the afternoon.
The officers found Cisneros one block away, behind a police substation, wielding two knives against them, as seen in the footage of the confrontation. Authorities ruled out any terrorist links.
The officers spoke with the woman for four minutes and gave her “numerous orders” to drop the knives, but she refused, explained NYPD Commissioner Jessica Tisch at a press conference held this Monday night.
“I’m not going to drop anything. I’d rather kill you both. I will kill you,” the woman threatened the officers during the confrontation, Tisch insisted.
The police used several Taser guns against Cisneros, but these were ineffective and she continued approaching the officers with the knives, Tisch continued.
Two officers then opened fire and hit Cisneros at close range. She was declared dead at Bellevue Hospital.
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The stabbings, which occurred without any provocation, and the subsequent shooting happened within approximately 20 minutes and caused terrified tourists and pedestrians to run in search of a safe place.
Cisneros, a Queens resident, carried the knives in a store bag. She first stabbed a 68-year-old man in the abdomen as he had exited the 41st Street subway and was waiting to cross the street, Tisch explained.
The alleged perpetrator, still armed with the knives, then continued to 42nd Street and fatally stabbed a 32-year-old woman in the abdomen.
Several videos posted on social media captured Cisneros, who wore a pink t-shirt, jeans, and a crossbody bag, wielding the knives in front of the police and a large crowd of people watching the scene.
The officers shot her after she began to limp toward them with the knives.
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