Woman stabs one to death, injures another in New York's Times Square; shot dead by cops

A woman in New York City’s Times Square stabbed two people on Monday (Aug 31), killing one woman. She was then fatally shot by police, according to officials. The shooting happened before 4:30 p.m. next to a New York Police Department substation, outside One Times Square, the building that hosts the city’s annual New Year’s Eve ball drop celebration.

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According to Police Commissioner Jessica Tisch, 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. 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. “This was an extraordinarily dangerous situation unfolding in the heart of Times Square, the crossroads of the world,” Tisch said. 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, Tisch said. She didn’t provide additional details.

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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. In the video posted by bystanders, the woman fell to the ground after being hit by police bullet, where an officer handcuffed her. Officers rolled her onto her back and rendered first aid. Police are investigating the reason of the crime. Tisch said there was no evidence suggesting it was a terrorist attack.

Reacting to the incident, New York Mayor Zohran Mamdani said, “We know that 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." The NYPD temporarily closed part of 7th Avenue and warned the public to stay away from the area. Police tape cordoned off the area as a large group of law enforcement officers worked nearby.