A woman randomly stabbed two people in New York City’s Times Square on Monday, killing one woman, and then was fatally shot by police, according to officials. The shooting happened just before 4:30 pm local time, next to a New York Police Department (NYPD) substation, just outside One Times Square, the building that hosts the city’s annual New Year’s Eve ball drop celebration. It is one of the most heavily touristed and policed spots in all of New York.
The 49-year-old woman from Queens pulled out two knives from a shopping bag and stabbed a 68-year-old man who had just come out of the subway station and was waiting to cross the street with his wife, striking him in the abdomen, Police Commissioner Jessica Tisch said at a news conference. Seconds later, the woman stabbed a 32-year-old woman also in the abdomen, Tisch said. Both victims were taken to the hospital.
The woman died and the man is in stable condition, according to police. Police didn’t say if the victims were tourists visiting the city or residents. Videos posted on social media show a group of at least 10 officers gathered around the woman, who was holding two large kitchen knives.
Officers tried to convince the woman to drop the knives for several minutes before using a Taser, Tisch said. The woman told them: “I’m not dropping anything, I would rather kill both of you,” according to Tisch. The video shows the Taser not incapacitating her and the woman walking quickly toward the officers while waving the knives in front of her.
Two officers then shot the woman, according to police. In videos posted by eyewitnesses, the woman fell to the ground, where an officer handcuffed her. Officers rolled her onto her back and rendered first aid.
The woman has a “documented mental health history with the NYPD,” which include incidents in 2018 and 2019 but no arrest history with the department, said Commissioner Tisch without adding further details, but ruling out terrorism. Both Mamdani and Tisch praised the officers, saying more people could have been hurt or killed if not for their actions. The NYPD temporarily closed part of 7th Avenue and warned the public to stay away from the area.
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