Erin Piacenti, 32, was vice-president of business selection and conflicts at Bank of America 

By Daniel Bates

A Bank of America vice-president was named as the victim of a stabbing attack in New York’s Times Square on Monday.

Erin Piacenti, 32, was killed when a knife-wielding woman, Pamela Cisneros, went on an apparently random stabbing attack.

She also stabbed a man, who survived, before she was shot dead by police in front of a crowd of onlookers.

The stabbing happened on Monday afternoon in Times Square as hundreds of tourists looked on.

Ms Piacenti was vice-president of business selection and conflicts at Bank of America in Manhattan.

According to social media posts reported by the New York Post, she had celebrated her second wedding anniversary on Aug 10, three weeks before she was killed.

Ms Piacenti was a graduate of the University of Pennsylvania and Fordham Law School and had previously worked at Morgan Stanley, an investment bank.

In a statement, Bank of America said: “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 stabbing happened on Monday afternoon in Times Square as hundreds of tourists looked on in horror and ran for cover as the drama unfolded.

The two knives recovered at the scene of the fatal stabbing.

According to police, Cisneros, who was known to have a history of mental health issues, stabbed Ms Piacenti and a man in the apparently random attack.

Jessica Tisch, the NYPD commissioner, said at a press conference that the officers engaged the woman in dialogue for four minutes and gave her numerous commands to drop the knives, which she refused.

Jessica Tisch, the NYPD commissioner, next to Zohran Mamdani, the New York mayor, at the the press conference following the stabbing.

“During the encounter, she told the officers: ‘I’m not dropping anything. I would rather kill both of you’,” Ms Tisch said.

Videos of the incident showed Cisneros raising the knives and charging at officers, who shot her.

Police had tried to use tasers to subdue her, but she pulled them off and continued to make threats, Ms Tisch said.

The shooting occurred just outside One Times Square, the building where the annual New Year’s Eve ball-drop celebration is hosted.

Ms Tisch said: “This was an extraordinarily dangerous situation unfolding in the heart of Times Square, the crossroads of the world. At any given moment, there are thousands of New Yorkers, commuters, tourists, families, workers, moving through these streets.”

During the press conference, Zohran Mamdani, the New York mayor, said: “Our thoughts, not only for those of us who are here right now, but of the entire city, are with the families of both of these victims.

“We know those families’ lives have been shattered by what took place today, and we will continue to hold them close as the hours and days and weeks continue from this moment.”

Source: Telegraph UK