Police shoot woman after New York double stabbing
Representational image.
During a municipal press conference, city authorities said New York City police officers shot and killed a woman on Monday after she stabbed two individuals in Times Square.
New York City Police Commissioner Jessica Tisch characterized the random and unprovoked assaults as acts committed by a person with a history of mental health struggles.
Tisch reported that the suspect, whom authorities identified as 49-year-old Pamela Cisneros of Queens, brandished two knives before approaching a 68-year-old man in Times Square and stabbing him in the abdomen. Immediately afterward, the assailant stabbed a woman in the stomach.
Responding police officers confronted Cisneros shortly after the attacks and attempted to halt her. Although officers conversed with her for about four minutes, authorities noted that they could not persuade her to surrender her knives.
After reviewing the official body camera footage of the encounter, Tisch said Cisneros told police, “I’m not dropping anything, I would rather kill both of you.”
Several officers attempted to neutralize Cisneros using stun guns, yet she persisted in advancing toward them with her weapons. As a result, two officers discharged their firearms at Cisneros, an action that body-worn cameras recorded, according to Tisch.
Officials transported all three individuals - Cisneros and her two victims - to Bellevue Hospital. Bellevue Hospital subsequently declared both Cisneros and the female victim deceased, while the injured man survived and remains in stable condition.
Both Tisch and New York City Mayor Zohran Mamdani supported the officers’ lethal use of force, although authorities will conduct a standard investigation typical for police-involved shootings in New York.
Mamdani praised the responding personnel, stating, “I want to thank the NYPD officers who stepped in and prevented a horrific attack from becoming even worse.”
Source: The Guardian (adapted)
