The Bank of America executive killed in a Times Square stabbing rampage had just marked her second wedding anniversary weeks before the attack.
Erin Piacenti, 32, of Chester, New Jersey, was fatally wounded near 42nd Street and Seventh Avenue around 4:30 p.m. Monday, NYPD Commissioner Jeff Tisch told reporters after the attack. She was one of two victims in what police described as an unprovoked assault before officers shot the suspect dead.
Piacenti worked as Vice President of Business Selection and Conflicts at Bank of America in New York City, according to sources familiar with her employment. Her professional background included a 2016 graduation from the University of Pennsylvania and a 2021 law degree from Fordham Law School, details listed on her LinkedIn profile showed.
The young executive had celebrated her second wedding anniversary on August 10, according to social media posts. The milestone came just days before she became the fatal victim in a violent afternoon at the Crossroads of the World.
The attack began when Pamela Cisneros, 49, produced a pair of kitchen knives and stabbed a 68-year-old man in the abdomen after he exited the subway on West 41st Street, according to police accounts. Cisneros then moved north to 42nd Street, where she encountered Piacenti and delivered the fatal abdominal stab wound.
Officers cornered Cisneros after the second stabbing. She charged at police and was shot dead, Tisch said.
The 68-year-old male victim survived his injuries. Both attacks occurred without warning or apparent motive in one of Manhattan’s most heavily trafficked corridors, where tourists and office workers fill the sidewalks during afternoon hours.
Piacenti’s death drew attention to the vulnerability of even the most professionally accomplished young New Yorkers to random street violence. Her position at a major financial institution and recent law school graduation pointed to a rapidly advancing career cut short in minutes.
The anniversary celebration she had shared online now stands among the final personal milestones documented before the Monday attack. Police have not disclosed any connection between Cisneros and either victim, and the investigation into what prompted the knife rampage continued in the hours after the shootings.
The incident marked another episode of deadly violence in a Times Square area that has seen periodic high-profile attacks despite stepped-up police presence in recent years. Officers fatally shooting suspects who charge at them with weapons has also drawn scrutiny in other Manhattan cases, though Monday’s confrontation ended with no additional injuries to police or bystanders.