NEW YORK — The victim randomly murdered by a woman on a stabbing spree in Times Square has been identified as a vice president at Bank of America who recently celebrated her two-year wedding anniversary.
Erin Piacenti, 32, of Chester, N.J., died in Monday afternoon’s bloody rampage when Pamela Cisneros, a 49-year-old Queens woman with a history of mental illness, pulled two kitchen knives out of a Target bag and started stabbing strangers.
“We are shocked and deeply saddened by the tragic loss of our colleague,” a Bank of America spokesperson said Tuesday. “She was a valued teammate who will be greatly missed. Our hearts go out to her family and all of her loved ones.”
Piacenti worked as a Vice President for Business Selection and Conflicts for Bank of America, which is headquartered about a block from where she was killed. She graduated from the University of Pennsylvania, where according to her Facebook page she sang with Penn Dischord, an a cappella group at the school.
Her solo performances — “Love Me Harder” and “Break Free” by Ariana Grande, and “Hold My Hand” by Jess Glynne — were posted to the group’s YouTube channel in 2014 and 2015.
Social media posts show her in walking down the aisle with her husband, Frank, in August 2024.
A devastated relative declined comment when reached by the Daily News Tuesday. “No, no, this is not the time, I’m sorry,” he said.
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Cisneros first attacked a 68-year-old man waiting to cross the street with his wife at W. 41st St. near Seventh Ave. at 4:24 p.m., cops said, plunging a knife in his abdomen. He survived.
Within 20 seconds, she headed north to W. 42nd St. and attacked Piacenti, stabbing her in the abdomen as well.
“I was crossing at 42nd St. I saw a guy bleeding profusely from his right leg. He was gushing blood, saying, ‘I need help. Help me,’” said witness Linda Ruiz, 58.
“I went to get a cop on the corner and there was another lady on the floor … There was a lot of blood. She wasn’t conscious. The police were trying to resuscitate her. But she wasn’t moving. It was horrible.”
Police surrounded Cisneros near an NYPD substation by W. 43rd St.
“I’m not dropping anything. I would rather kill both of you. I will kill you,” she told the officers during a tense four-minute standoff, NYPD Commissioner Jessica Tisch said Monday. Police tried to subdue her with a Taser before officers opened fire, killing her.
“This was an extraordinarily dangerous situation unfolding in the heart of Times Square, the crossroads of the world,” said Tisch. “Our officers were confronted with a rapidly evolving threat with countless innocent people around them. In that moment, they did what we trained them to do.”
Startling cell phone videos shot by bystanders show Cisneros pinwheeling her arms and swinging the knives as she charged at the officers. Pops and an electrical current can be heard just before the officers’ gunshots ring out.
Both the stabbing victims and the suspect were taken to Bellevue Hospital, where Piacenti and her killer died, according to sources.
“I ask New Yorkers to join me in holding the victim in our thoughts and wishing them a full recovery,” Mayor Mamdani said of the survivor, who lives in Rhode Island, at the Times Square press briefing.
“I want to thank the NYPD officers who stepped in and prevented a horrific attack from becoming even worse. This is what the men and women of this department do every day to keep this city safe.”
Tisch said Cisneros has a history of mental health issues, including incidents in 2018 and 2019. Cisneros has no criminal record in New York City, according to Tisch, who declined to provide details regarding the suspect’s mental health.
Police recovered two knives from the scene.
New York City has struggled with the care and treatment of the mentally ill for years. The shutdown of large-scale psychiatric institutions left a void in the system as the community-based care network that was supposed to fill the gap is widely seen as inadequate and underfunded.