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🇪🇨 Ecuador /Crime & Justice

New York police shoot woman after double stabbing in Times Square

From El Comercio · () Spanish

Translated from Spanish and summarized by DistantNews. Read the original for the full story.

At a glance

News Official statement Outcome reported
  • Police said Patricia Cisneros, 49, stabbed a 32-year-old woman and a 68-year-old man in Times Square before officers shot her when she advanced toward them with knives.
  • The woman who was stabbed died, the man remained hospitalized in stable condition, and Cisneros later died at a hospital.
  • Authorities said the attack was random and found no current indication of terrorism, while noting Cisneros had a history of documented mental-health incidents.

The attack in Times Square unfolded in less than 20 seconds, according to New York Police Commissioner Jessica Tisch. Patricia Cisneros, 49, pulled two knives from a supermarket bag and stabbed a 68-year-old man and a 32-year-old woman in the abdomen.

Emergency crews took both victims to a hospital, but the woman died from her injuries. The man remained hospitalized in stable condition. Authorities had not released the victims’ identities while they notified their families.

The attack occurred in less than 20 seconds.

— Jessica TischNew York’s police chief described how quickly the two stabbings took place.

Cisneros then ran up the street toward a police station near the busy tourist district. Officers surrounded her and spent four minutes trying to persuade her to drop the knives. Tisch said Cisneros threatened the officers and refused to surrender the weapons.

The situation represented an extraordinary danger in one of the most visited tourist places in the world.

— Jessica TischShe described the risk created by the attack in the crowded Times Square area.

Police first used Tasers, but they failed to stop her. When she moved toward the officers while waving the knives, they fired their service weapons. Police took Cisneros to a hospital, where doctors confirmed her death.

Tisch said Cisneros, who lived in Queens, had documented mental-health incidents in 2018 and 2019 but no recorded arrests. The attack took place near 42nd Street and Seventh Avenue, and authorities temporarily closed the area. Tisch said there was no reason to treat the incident as terrorism, although it posed an extraordinary danger in one of New York’s busiest tourist locations. Mayor Zohran Mamdani expressed solidarity with the victims’ families and thanked police, saying their rapid response prevented even worse consequences.

The rapid action of the Police avoided even worse consequences from a horrible attack.

— Zohran MamdaniThe mayor thanked officers during a news conference.
About this summary

Originally published by El Comercio in Spanish. Translated, summarized, and contextualized automatically by DistantNews, with a note on how the source frames the story. Not individually reviewed before publishing. How this works.

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