by Michele Evans
NY Weekly Record
8/31/2026
UPDATE 9/1/2026: The Times Square attack is now a double-fatality incident. Police say the woman shot by NYPD, identified as Pamela Cisneros, 49, of Queens, died at Bellevue Hospital. A 32-year-old woman Cisneros allegedly stabbed also died. A second stabbing victim, a 68-year-old man, is hospitalized in stable condition.
NEW YORK — The violence unfolded shortly before 4:30 p.m. Monday near Seventh Avenue and West 41st/42nd streets in Times Square.
According to NYPD Commissioner Jessica Tisch, Cisneros allegedly pulled two large knives from a shopping bag and stabbed a 68-year-old man in the abdomen after he exited the subway and was waiting to cross the street with his wife. Police described the attack as random and unprovoked.
Approximately 20 seconds later, police say Cisneros stabbed a 32-year-old woman, also in the abdomen. Both victims were taken to Bellevue Hospital, where the woman was pronounced dead. The man, whose injuries were initially considered life-threatening, has since stabilized.
Police confronted Cisneros near the Times Square NYPD substation while she was still armed with two knives. Tisch said officers spent about four minutes repeatedly ordering her to drop the weapons. Officers deployed Tasers twice, but they did not stop her. Two officers then fired their service weapons as Cisneros advanced while armed, according to police.
Cisneros was transported to Bellevue Hospital, where she was pronounced dead. Police said she had a documented mental-health history involving prior NYPD encounters in 2018 and 2019 but no prior arrest history. Authorities said there is currently no indication the attack was terrorism-related.
The police shooting remains under investigation.
UPDATE: Emergency Radio Traffic Declares Mass-Casualty Incident
Emergency radio traffic from the Times Square response designated the scene a mass-casualty incident involving five patients.
Dispatch communications identified three patients as red-tagged, meaning they were triaged for immediate treatment, and two NYPD officers as green-tagged, indicating lower-priority injuries. The three red-tagged patients were transported to Bellevue Hospital, according to the radio traffic.
The circumstances surrounding the two officers’ injuries were not immediately clear. The triage information comes directly from emergency radio traffic and should be distinguished from a subsequent formal NYPD or FDNY account of the incident.
What “mass casualty” means: An EMS mass-casualty incident designation does not mean people have died. It indicates that the number or severity of patients requires coordinated triage and emergency resources. A red tag means a patient needs immediate treatment; it does not mean the patient is dead.
The NYPD has advised people to avoid the area because of the ongoing investigation, road closures and resulting traffic and transit disruptions.
Additional Midtown Incidents Being Reported
As police continue investigating the Times Square violence, Crime Radar alerts are reporting at least two additional incidents elsewhere in Midtown Manhattan.
One alert reported a “jumper down” in the Fifth Avenue/Madison Avenue area, while another reported a violent person near 10th Avenue.
Those additional reports are preliminary and, as of publication, have not been independently confirmed by the NYPD or major New York news organizations. It is also not known whether either incident has any connection to what occurred in Times Square.
The simultaneous alerts nevertheless come as police and emergency personnel respond to an already significant incident in one of the busiest sections of Manhattan.
There is currently no indication that the three reported incidents are related.
This is a developing story. NY Weekly Record will update this report as additional information is confirmed.
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