The stabbing incident, which authorities described as random and unprovoked, occurred at approximately 4:24 p.m. on Monday on Seventh Avenue near West 41st Street in Manhattan. According to the New York Police Department, 49-year-old Pamela Cisneros of Queens initiated the attack after a 68-year-old Rhode Island man exited a subway station. A witness told investigators that Cisneros pulled two knives from a red Target bag, waved them, and stabbed the man in the right side of his abdomen while he was standing with his wife waiting to cross the street.
Attack on Erin Piacenti
Following the first attack, Cisneros walked north on Seventh Avenue, where she encountered 32-year-old Erin Piacenti near West 42nd Street. Cisneros stabbed Piacenti in the abdomen. The two attacks occurred within approximately 20 seconds of each other. Piacenti, a resident of Chester, New Jersey, was pronounced dead at a hospital. The 68-year-old man was transported to Bellevue Hospital, where he remains in stable condition.
NYPD Commissioner Jessica Tisch
Officers encountered Cisneros between West 42nd and West 43rd streets while she was still holding the two knives. NYPD Commissioner Jessica Tisch stated that officers spoke with Cisneros for about four minutes, issuing repeated commands for her to drop the weapons. Cisneros refused, and according to Commissioner Tisch, she told the officers that she would not drop anything and would rather kill both of them.
As Cisneros advanced toward the officers while waving the knives, police deployed Tasers, which Commissioner Tisch noted were ineffective. Two officers subsequently discharged their service weapons, killing Cisneros. The knives were recovered at the scene. The NYPD’s Force Investigation Division is conducting an ongoing investigation into the shooting.
Commissioner Tisch reported that while Cisneros had no prior arrest history with the department, she had a documented mental health history involving incidents in 2018 and 2019. Investigators have stated there is no reason to believe the attack was an act of terrorism.
Bank of America employee
Piacenti, who worked at Bank of America in New York City, was a 2016 graduate of the University of Pennsylvania and earned her law degree from Fordham Law School in 2021. Bank of America issued a statement regarding her death, expressing that the company was shocked and deeply saddened by the tragic loss of their colleague, noting that she was a valued teammate who would be greatly missed and that their hearts went out to her family and all of her loved ones.
Fordham University also expressed its condolences through a spokesperson, stating that the university was heartbroken to learn of the tragic and senseless loss of their alumna, Erin [Guiltinan] Piacenti, noting that Erin and her husband, Frank, graduated in 2021 and had been cherished members of the Fordham Law family, and that during this devastating time, the university’s thoughts, prayers, and deepest sympathies were with Frank, their families, and all who knew and loved Erin.
Piacenti and her husband had recently celebrated their second wedding anniversary and had purchased their first home in Chester, New Jersey.
Before her career in law, Piacenti attended Villa Walsh Academy in Morristown, New Jersey, and was active in the New Jersey Youth Chorus and the University of Pennsylvania’s Dischord A Cappella group, where she was a frequent soloist.