Estimated reading time: 4 minutes
A woman armed with two large knives. Two people already stabbed. Four minutes of police commands. Tasers that failed to stop the threat.
Then came the gunfire.
That is the basic timeline of Monday’s deadly attack in Times Square, according to reporting from CBS News New York and ABC News.
Police identified the woman killed in the attack as 32-year-old Erin Piacenti of Chester, New Jersey. Piacenti was a vice president at Bank of America and a graduate of Fordham Law School.
She had recently returned from maternity leave and was heading home from work when she was attacked. Piacenti leaves behind her husband, Frank, and their five-month-old daughter.
Police identified the suspected attacker as 49-year-old Pamela Cisneros of Queens.
The violence began around 4:26 p.m. Monday near West 41st Street and Seventh Avenue. Police said Cisneros pulled two knives from a shopping bag and approached 68-year-old Tak Kam of Kingston, Rhode Island.
Kam had just exited the subway and was waiting to cross the street with his wife. The couple was visiting New York to see their son in Brooklyn.
Police said Cisneros stabbed Kam in the abdomen without warning.
SEE ALSO: Kimber CDS9 Review: 1,300 Rounds, No Excuses
About 20 seconds later, investigators say Cisneros moved north on Seventh Avenue and stabbed Piacenti in the abdomen. Police described both attacks as random and unprovoked.
Witnesses flagged down nearby officers as Cisneros headed toward the NYPD substation in Times Square.
What happened next will be closely examined.
According to NYPD Commissioner Jessica Tisch, officers spent roughly four minutes speaking with Cisneros and repeatedly ordering her to drop the knives. She refused.
Police said Cisneros threatened to kill the officers while continuing to hold a knife in each hand.
Officers deployed Tasers twice, but they failed to stop her. Cisneros then advanced toward the officers while still armed, according to police and video from the scene.
Two officers opened fire, striking her. Cisneros was transported to Bellevue Hospital, where she died.
Piacenti was also taken to a hospital but could not be saved. Kam survived and was released from the hospital Tuesday afternoon, according to an updated ABC7 New York report.
Police recovered both knives at the scene.
So, was the shooting justified?
Based on the facts released so far, the officers appear to have faced an immediate deadly threat. Cisneros allegedly had two knives, had already stabbed two strangers and refused repeated commands to disarm.
Police did not fire immediately. They spent several minutes attempting to get her to surrender and tried less-lethal Tasers before using their firearms.
SEE ALSO: Glenfield Model A Review: Sub-MOA for $529?
Once she continued advancing with the knives, the officers had more than their own safety to consider. This happened in the middle of Times Square, one of the busiest pedestrian areas in the country. Allowing an armed attacker to move freely through that crowd could have placed more people in danger.
Cisneros had a documented history of mental health crises. Police had encountered her during incidents in 2018 and 2019, but she reportedly had no prior arrest record.
That history helps explain the tragedy, but it does not make two knives less dangerous. Officers responding in the moment had to deal with the threat in front of them. They could not gamble with their lives or the lives of nearby pedestrians.
Some may ask why several officers could not simply rush Cisneros and overpower her. That sounds much easier from a safe distance than it does when someone is holding two knives and has already stabbed two people.
A single knife can cause a fatal injury in seconds. Closing the distance also could have placed officers within immediate reach of both blades.
SEE ALSO: FN SCAR 15P Review: Small Gun, Serious Bite
The NYPD Force Investigation Division is reviewing the shooting. Body-camera footage exists and is expected to be released publicly at a later date. Neither of the officers who fired has been publicly identified.
That footage may provide a clearer picture of the final moments. For now, the known timeline shows officers gave Cisneros repeated opportunities to drop the weapons, attempted less-lethal force and fired only after she continued advancing.
This was a tragedy from every angle. Erin Piacenti lost her life in a random attack. Tak Kam was seriously wounded. Pamela Cisneros died during an apparent mental health crisis. The officers now must live with the decisions they made in a few chaotic minutes.
Could they have handled it differently, or did they do exactly what the situation demanded?
*** Buy and Sell on GunsAmerica! ***
Available on GunsAmerica Now
is a seasoned outdoorsman, lifelong hunter, and the kind of guy who’d rather track whitetails than scroll social media. As an editor for GunsAmerica, he’s got a sharp eye for spotting both solid gear and bad gun laws. Whether he’s deep in the woods or deep in editorial deadlines, Larry brings a no-nonsense, tell-it-like-it-is approach to firearms, hunting, and the great American tradition of self-reliance. If there’s a hot debate on gun rights or the latest in hunting tech, you can bet Larry’s got an opinion—and it’s probably backed up with both facts and field experience.
Experience:
– Licensed Bowhunter, Hunter, and Trapper – Experienced in ethical hunting and wildlife conservation.
– Concealed Carry Permit Holder (NYS & AZ) – Trained and licensed to carry in multiple states.
– 2A Journalist – Covering firearms legislation, Second Amendment issues, and gun rights for over a decade.
– Emergency Medical Technician (EMT) – Certified to provide emergency medical care in the field.
– Field-Tested Gear Reviewer – Hands-on experience with firearms, optics, and hunting tech.
I don’t care if these people have mental illness problems or not. Postpartum depression, can’t handle the stress of having a job or whatever you’re fucking excuse is. You commit a crime like this, bang… moving on…
When are police departments going to acknowledge the failure rate of Tasers are too high to rely on them? The public has been brainwashed into thinking any use of force is unacceptable, and it’s getting people hurt or killed. I carried a Taser, but honestly, pepper spray and a 26″ baton were much more effective.
ECWs truly are less effective on obese folks. Eventually I bet they’ll have to develop a tazer with more voltage for us Americans.
Cops did a great job managing a difficult situation here. They tried de-escalation and communication, then less lethal, and then lethal force when she advanced.
With all that blubber no wonder the taser didn’t work.
This is where the ” Bolo Wrap ” would have been helpful!
When Tasers didn’t work and the Suspect refused to comply with Police orders to drop her weapons, it became NECESSARY to use LETHAL FORCE to STOP HER. The fact that the Suspect had already stabbed multiple victims made the use of Tasers a “courtesy”. . . Most police officers would have gone straight to their firearms since lethal weapons had already been used to injure and kill innocent victims. Armchair Philosophers should sit this one out.
Really good, brief summation on this incident. 100% agree with you.
quote———————The fact that the Suspect had already stabbed multiple victims made the use of Tasers a “courtesy”. . . Most police officers would have gone straight to their firearms since lethal weapons had already been used to injure and kill innocent victims. Armchair Philosophers should sit this one out.———–quote
Your post only shows you are both a sick sadist and definitely not a product of higher education. Psychology 101 is a foreign to you as rocket science. Mental illness is a sickness just like Cancer is. We do not gun down cancer victims, nor should we gun down mentally ill people who are not responsible for their actions. Of course, this information is way over your head, and it does not fit in with your jackbooted stormtrooper mentality.
I do not condone what the mentally ill woman did but to rant like you did about gleefully enjoying an execution is really sick. As one other poster said who had experience in this sort of thing even the old fashioned wood baton would have taken her out without killing her but that would have deprived a psycho stormtrooper like yourself of seeing a person gunned down like a dog in the street.
I have great empathy for the woman who was killed but gleefully dancing in the blood of the mentally ill woman shows a behavior right out of the Middle Ages (or in Nazi Germany) when they burned women as witches at the stake, something I am sure you would also have approved of. I am not being factious in the least,
We don’t gun down cancer victims but how do you feel about offering them the right to die, dacian? Medically assisted dying, that kind of thing.
It is a tragedy that this woman died but several non-lethal methods had been tried and were not working and the public safety (that’s what the police serve, isn’t it?) demanded that the threat of this woman had to be stopped somehow.
I do agree that you aren’t being factious here. Facetious and fractious, yes, but factious, no.
Komisar dacian cheers on the replacement fact and the Komisar said that the Komisar will be howling at the moon while WHITE people are reduced in numbers.
Have you no shame Komisar dacian?
You are being factious in the maximum.
Let US recall how Komisar dacian celebrated the criminal shooting of Ashli Babbit and cover up.
Let US recall how Komisar dacian admitted that if Komisar dacian could have starved to death all 90,000,000 of the Germans that survived WWII (including women and children) Komisar dacian would have done so.
Let US recall how Komisar dacian even said the Komisar would have killed my Celtic ancestors if the Komisar only could have.
The Komisar is just like the heads of the NKVD Yagoda, Yezhov, Beria etc. brutes until the machine turned on them and then they cried, begged and died like the cowards they really were.
Happy Labor Day Komisar dacian.
:^I
note
She is solely responsible for her actions. Mental illness is not a excuse.
Yet more proof we need more mental institutions, some people cannot be in a civil society.
It is nice that you have empathy for the woman, yet you fail to have empathy for the victims.
“Silence is golden
But my eyes still see
Silence is golden, golden
But my eyes still see”
Cancer isn’t a mental illness, jackass, but good try attempting to appear intelligent.
When Tasers didn’t work and the Suspect refused to comply with Police orders to drop her weapons, it became NECESSARY to use LETHAL FORCE to STOP HER. The fact that the Suspect had already stabbed multiple victims made the use of Tasers a “courtesy”. . . Most police officers would have gone straight to their firearms since lethal weapons had already been used to injure and kill innocent victims. Armchair Philosophers should sit this one out.
Well, i think if it was someone that could actually stab you when you are in defense mode.. yes. BUT did you see the video. You could have tripped that weevil wobble and she prob would have stuck herself!! Not defending the women. My point is that if that took place in anywhere except a big Blue city, the stupid ass media would have a field day with this. For a few days anyways.
Pepper spray her face would stop her,
Unless the P.D. just felt like shooting her,
She evidently wanted death by Cop so accomadated her-?!
Too bad HeeHaw the donkey did not get as many chances Pamela Cisneros.
A donkey colt is a VERY friendly critter,
Truly COWARD/IDIOT cops involved here:
Textbook example of crazy.
she got what she deserved!