Two killed in Times Square stabbing in NY

NEW YORK:

A Bank of America, vice president, Erin Piacenti, was killed in a stabbing at Times Square on Monday.

"We are shocked and deeply saddened by the tragic loss of our colleague. She was a valued teammate who will be greatly missed. Our hearts go out to her family and all of her loved ones," the US banking giant said in an emailed statement to Reuters.

Piacenti - a vice president of business selection and conflicts at the bank - died at the hospital from the stabbing injuries, according to a Bloomberg News report, which first reported the news.

New York City Mayor Zohran Mamdani said on Monday in a press briefing that a woman carrying multiple knives stabbed two people in Times Square before police used a Taser and fired their weapons.

NYPD Commissioner Jessica Tisch added the attacks appeared random and unprovoked, and that officers fired after Tasers failed to stop the woman from advancing toward them with knives.

Earlier, a knife-wielding woman stabbed and killed a person and injured another in New York's tourist-filled Times Square on Monday, before she was shot and killed by police.

The attacker, identified as 49-year-old Queens resident Pamela Cisneros, who was known to have mental health issues, pulled two large knives from a bag bearing the logo of a well-known supermarket chain before threatening passersby in broad daylight, New York Police Commissioner Jessica Tisch said.

She then approached Piacenti and stabbed him in the abdomen. 20 seconds later, she attacked a 32-year-old woman, also stabbing her in the abdomen - wounds from which she later died.

The victims' identities are not being released pending notification of their families.

Police quickly intervened and tried to persuade Cisneros to drop her weapons. "The officers engaged the woman in dialogue for four minutes and gave her numerous commands to drop the knives, which she refused," Tisch said.