Bank of America confirmed on Tuesday that one of its vice presidents was killed in a random knife attack in the middle of Times Square on Monday, August 31, 2026, an assault that left a second victim wounded and ended with New York City police fatally shooting the woman accused of wielding the blades.
The New York City Police Department (NYPD) identified the woman who died as Erin Piacenti, 32, of Chester, New Jersey. She was a vice president in Bank of America’s business selection and conflicts unit, according to her LinkedIn profile. The bank’s Manhattan office at One Bryant Park sits a short walk from the corner where she was attacked.
In an emailed statement, the second-biggest U.S. lender said it was “shocked and deeply saddened by the tragic loss of our colleague.” The company called Piacenti a valued teammate and said its thoughts were with her family and loved ones.
What Police Say Happened in Times Square
The attack unfolded around 4:24 p.m. ET near West 42nd Street and Seventh Avenue, in daylight and in the middle of the city’s tourist district. Officers were dispatched after a 911 call came in shortly before 4:30 p.m. on Monday.
A witness told investigators that the attacker pulled two butcher knives from a red Target bag, waved the blades at a 68-year-old man and then stabbed him in the abdomen. NYPD Commissioner Jessica Tisch said the two stabbings happened within 20 seconds of each other. The 68-year-old man was in stable condition, police said.
Officers who responded found Pamela Cisneros, 49, of Queens, New York, brandishing two large knives, according to the NYPD. Police said she advanced toward the officers. Tisch said Cisneros refused to drop the weapons and told the officers she would rather kill them both.
What followed was a four-minute standoff on a crowded Midtown sidewalk. Officers deployed tasers, which did not slow her advance, police said. Officers then opened fire, and Cisneros was pronounced dead at a hospital. Tisch said Cisneros had a documented mental health history.
Mayor Zohran Mamdani appeared alongside the commissioner at the Monday news conference. The bloodshed brought the surrounding Midtown streets to a standstill as emergency vehicles poured into the blocks beneath the skyscrapers, snarling the theater district and the tourist crowds that pack the area in late afternoon.
A Colleague Mourned at One Bryant Park
Inside Bank of America, the loss landed hard. Matthew Koder, the bank’s president of Global Corporate & Investment Banking, called Piacenti a “cherished teammate and friend” in an internal memo. He wrote that she had joined the bank 18 months earlier, that she was a valued member of the business selection and conflicts team and that her loss was being felt deeply by many.
Koder also told employees that the bank’s security teams were fully engaged in supporting the police investigation and in addressing the ongoing safety and security of its offices and staff. Bank of America publicly confirmed the loss of a staff member on Tuesday, and the internal memo confirmed Piacenti’s identity.
Business selection and conflicts is one of the less visible corners of a global investment bank, staffed by professionals who screen prospective deals and clients for conflicts of interest before transactions move ahead. Piacenti was one of thousands of finance employees who commute each day into the blocks around Bryant Park and Times Square.
Another Attack Rattles New York’s Business Community
The killing added to a run of violence that has unnerved corporate New York. A senior Blackstone executive died last year after a gunman carrying an assault rifle stepped into the lobby of a Midtown Manhattan office building and started shooting. A Goldman Sachs employee was fatally shot in 2022 during a random, unprovoked attack aboard a train running from Brooklyn to Lower Manhattan.
And UnitedHealthcare CEO Brian Thompson was gunned down outside a Manhattan hotel in 2024 in what law-enforcement officials have described as a premeditated assassination. Luigi Mangione admitted in court last month to fatally shooting the health insurance executive.
Those cases differ sharply from what police described in Times Square. Investigators have pointed to no dispute, no target and no motive in Monday’s attack. Tisch said it appeared random and unprovoked, striking a stranger and a passerby who happened to be standing on the same block at the same moment.
The violence also cut against the broader crime picture the NYPD has been promoting. Last month, the department reported that shootings, people struck by gunfire and homicides had all fallen to their lowest levels ever tracked, whether measured across January through July or in the month of July alone. Two people were stabbed on Monday at the center of the city’s tourist district, in daylight, in the space of 20 seconds.