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A fatal encounter in one of the world's most recognizable destinations left two people dead and another injured following a violent knife attack.
The incident occurred on a busy afternoon in Times Square, drawing a heavy police presence and cutting short the lives of a victim and her attacker; it was revealed in a police news conference on Monday.
The commotion began around 4:24PM local time near Seventh Avenue. Authorities responded to reports of an aggressive individual targeting people near a subway entrance, creating chaos in an area typically filled with tourists and commuters.
The event sparked an immediate response from law enforcement and emergency medical personnel, who worked to secure the area and provide assistance to the injured.
According to New York Police Commissioner Jessica Tisch, the incident began when a woman carrying a red Target bag approached a couple who had just emerged from the subway. The woman withdrew two knives from the bag and waved them before stabbing a 68-year-old man in the side.
Tisch said the woman then attacked a 32-year-old woman, stabbing her in the abdomen. The attacker continued up Seventh Avenue, where police accosted her. Officers spent four minutes attempting to de-escalate the situation, issuing multiple verbal commands for the suspect to drop her weapons.
The suspect refused to comply with the commands. Tisch alleged that the woman responded with, “I’m not dropping anything, I would rather kill both of you”, and repeated, “I will kill you”.
When the suspect approached the responding officers, multiple police members discharged their TASERS. Tisch noted that these non-lethal attempts proved “ineffective” at stopping her advance. Following the failed attempt to subdue her with TASERS, two officers fired their service weapons.
Emergency services rushed the attacker and the two victims to a nearby hospital. The 32-year-old victim and the attacker were pronounced dead upon arrival. The 68-year-old male victim was listed in stable condition following treatment for his injuries.
Authorities later identified the attacker as a 49-year-old woman from Queens. Tisch confirmed that the woman had a history of mental health interactions with the NYPD, including separate documented incidents in 2018 and 2019. Despite these prior interactions, officials stated she had no prior arrest record.
Law enforcement officials clarified there was no evidence to suggest the incident was terror-related, describing the stabbing as “random and unprovoked.”
Photographs of the knives recovered from Seventh Avenue were later released by the NYPD.
Because police officers discharged their firearms during the confrontation, an internal investigation will examine the details of the shooting. Tisch confirmed that the entire interaction was captured on police body-camera footage.
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