NEW YORK (AP) — The woman killed in a random stabbing in Times Square was a Bank of America employee, the bank confirmed Tuesday. Police identified her and the attacker, who was killed in a confrontation with officers shortly after the rampage.
The woman who died, Erin Piacenti, 32, was one of two people who were stabbed Monday afternoon in the tourist and theater hub, a few blocks from Bank of America's office tower in New York.
“We are shocked and deeply saddened by the tragic loss of our colleague,” the bank said in a statement. The company didn't immediately answer questions about the specifics of Piacenti's work there.
She had earned a law degree from Fordham Law School, graduating in 2021 alongside her husband, Frank Piacenti, according to the school. Fordham Law said in a statement it was heartbroken by her death.
Messages were left with possible phone numbers and contacts for her relatives.
The other victim was a 68-year-old man whose identity hasn't been released. He was hospitalized, and no update on his condition was immediately available Tuesday.
Police identified the attacker Tuesday as Pamela Cisneros, 49, of Queens. Officers shot and killed her after the stabbing.
Messages were left at phone numbers possibly connected to her. Police Commissioner Jessica Tisch has said the woman had mental-health-related encounters with police in 2018 and 2019 but had no arrest record in New York City.
The attack happened in one of the busiest and most heavily policed areas in New York — next to a police station and just outside the building that hosts the city’s annual New Year’s Eve ball drop celebration. A man was fatally stabbed in the same area in May.
Cisneros pulled two knives from a shopping bag, stabbed the man, and then attacked Piacenti, Tisch said at a news conference Monday.
Bystander videos recorded police gathering around Cisneros as she held two large knives in front of her. Then, as they used a stun gun on her, she waved the knives and walked quickly toward the officers, the video showed.
Tisch said officers tried to persuade Cisneros to drop the knives for several minutes before they used the stun gun. She told them she wouldn't drop anything and “would rather kill” the officers, according to Tisch.
Two officers then shot Cisneros, according to police.
This story has been corrected to give the correct spelling of the surname of the woman who died. It is Piacenti, not Pacenti.
This image made from video provided by WABC shows NYPD officers on the scene after a woman brandishing two large knives was shot by officers in Times Square in New York, Monday, Aug. 31, 2026. (WABC via AP)
This image made from video provided by WABC-TV shows NYPD officers on the scene after a woman brandishing two large knives was shot by officers in Times Square in New York, Monday, Aug. 31, 2026. (WABC via AP)
This image made from video provided by WABC shows NYPD officers on the scene after a woman brandishing two large knives was shot by officers in Times Square in New York, Monday, Aug. 31, 2026. (WABC via AP)
CBS NFL analyst and former Dallas Cowboys quarterback Tony Romo has pleaded no contest to a charge of operating while intoxicated and has issued a statement apologizing for the actions that led to his July arrest.
Romo was arrested July 23 following a traffic stop as he was driving south on Interstate 43 in Wisconsin. CBS has since placed him on leave from his role as its lead NFL analyst.
According to Milwaukee County court records, Romo lost his driving privileges for six months and was ordered to complete an alcohol assessment program.
Romo also owes $834. An interlock device must be installed on any vehicle owned or operated by Romo or registered to his name, and that order will remain in effect for at least one year after he is issued a license.
“The past month has been difficult, but it has also been personally significant,” Romo said in a statement on Instagram. “It has required me to confront and own my mistakes fully — to the Lord, to myself, to my family and now to the public.”
Romo said the multiple back surgeries that led to his retirement as a player “left me with constant, debilitating pain.” He noted that the pain “led to a dependence on pain medication, and my efforts to get off those medications led to an over-reliance on alcohol.”
“None of this is an excuse,” Romo said. “These are my failures and I take responsibility for them.”
Romo said he is working with a team of doctors to address my health and “make the necessary changes.” He thanked his family, friends and the NFL community for their support.
“As I turn my attention to my health, my family, and, in time, my return to CBS, I kindly ask for privacy during this period,” Romo said.
Romo also initially had received citations for possessing open intoxicants in a motor vehicle, unsafe passing on the right and refusal to take a test for intoxication after arrest. Those citations have all been dismissed.
CBS Sports president David Berson said last month that he does not have a timeline for a decision about Romo’s future with the network.
Romo, 46, has been the lead game analyst for CBS’ NFL coverage since 2017 after making four Pro Bowl appearances during a playing career that ran from 2004-16 and was spent entirely with Dallas.
Analyst JJ Watt will join play-by-play announcer Jim Nantz and sideline reporter Tracy Wolfson on CBS Sports’ lead NFL team during Romo’s absence. Their first game will be on Sept. 13, when the Minnesota Vikings host the Green Bay Packers.
Citations released by the Milwaukee County Sheriff’s Office indicated that Romo performed poorly on field sobriety tests and that an open bottle of an alcoholic beverage was found in the passenger’s side of his black Jeep during an inventory before it was towed.
Body camera footage showed Romo telling deputies he had been coming from a golf course and was on his way “to visit grandma and grandpa” when he was stopped. A deputy told Romo he suspected him of being impaired because he had “red glassy eyes” and an “odor of an intoxicating alcoholic beverage.”
Romo went to high school about 35 miles southwest of Milwaukee in Burlington, Wisconsin.
He remains the Cowboys’ franchise leader in career touchdown passes with 248. He held the franchise record for career passing yards (34,183) until Dak Prescott overtook him last season.
See AP’s full NFL coverage here
FILE - CBS broadcaster Tony Romo, left, calls the game during the second half of a NFL football wild card playoff game between the Buffalo Bills and the Denver Broncos in Orchard Park, N.Y., Jan. 12, 2025. (AP Photo/Adrian Kraus, File)
