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Harrowing NYPD bodycam shows moment police fatally shoot knife-wielding maniac — as she charged at cops

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Hussain, Z. (2026, September 26). Harrowing NYPD bodycam shows moment police fatally shoot knife-wielding maniac — as she charged at cops. New York Post. https://nypost.com/2026/09/25/us-news/harrowing-nypd-bodycam-shows-moment-police-fatally-shoot-knife-wielding-maniac-as-she-charged-at-cops/

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New York Post · collected 2026-09-26 · by Zoe Hussain
Content note This article describes suicide or self-harm and violence described in detail.

Quick Summary

NYPD bodycam footage released Friday shows the moments leading up to the fatal shooting of Pamela Cisneros, 49, in Times Square on August 31. The video captures the encounter between Cisneros and two officers as she refused to drop the knives despite repeated pleas to do so. After charging at the police with the knives while screaming, Officers Joseph O’Connor and Steven Darcy fired three shots, resulting in her death at the scene. Cisneros had a history of mental health issues and had previously attempted suicide.
Written by AI on 2026-09-26, from this article's own text only (the story summary below draws on all the coverage).

AI analysis

Story summary

On August 31, the NYPD released bodycam footage showing the final moments before police fatally shot Pamela Cisneros in Times Square. Cisneros, a 49-year-old mother from Queens with mental health issues, had earlier stabbed two people: Tak Kam, 68, and Bank of America executive Erin Piacenti, 32. After encountering Cisneros holding two knives outside One Times Square, officers Ryan Brito and Francis Gagliano tried to convince her to put down the weapons, but she refused, stating "I’m tired of this world already" and saying they would have to kill her. Despite repeated pleas from the officers to surrender and assurances that they wanted to help her, Cisneros charged at them with the knives, leading to fatal police action.

Written for “NYPD Fatal Shootings” on 2026-11-03, grounded in this article and the 1 other(s) covering the same event.

Story

📰 NYPD Fatal Shootings
Crime & Law · 2 article(s) covering the same event. See how they differ ↓

Compared with similar articles

This article reads unscored and hedges 0% of its claims. Each row says how that neighbour differs.
New York Post
Hedges 2 of 7 claims Outlet record 66/100
“The articles describe two separate incidents involving different individuals in distinct locations.”
New York Post
Hedges 0 of 14 claims Outlet record 66/100
“The articles describe different events: one is about a Columbia University student stabbed in Central Park, while the other is about a mentally disturbed woman fatally shot by police in Times Square.”
New York Post
Hedges 1 of 4 claims Outlet record 66/100
“The articles describe two different events involving fatalities from stabbings in New York City but at distinct locations and times.”
New York Post
Hedges 5 of 21 claims Outlet record 66/100
“The articles describe different events involving distinct individuals and locations.”
How this article was measured signals, leaning charts, publisher record, byline, topics and claims

Signals How these are calculated →

Claims extracted
28
sentences that state something as happening or true
Uncertain
0%
0 of 28 hedged ("reportedly", "may", "according to")
Leaning
not political
takes no side on a contested political question
Publisher signals
66/100
New York Post's corrections and hedging, across everything collected from it. Not a measure of accuracy.
Outlets on this story
2
Crime & Law
Same framing elsewhere
1
articles that frame the event the way this one does
Analyzed 2026-09-26 · how these are computed

How this is being covered How these are calculated →

Article leaning vs. publisher reliability
Source leaning vs. consistency

Publisher

New York Post · 16258 article(s) · 35 correction(s) detected
Running correction rate · 35 correction(s)

Who wrote this

Zoe Hussain
92 article(s) here · 0 carrying a prediction
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Also by Zoe Hussain
Nothing else under this byline is closely related to this article, so these are simply their most recent.
All 92 articles by Zoe Hussain →

Topics

Bank of America NYPD New York City Queens Target

Subjects

Cisneros PERSON · 13× Brito PERSON · 5× New York City GPE · 2× Bank of America ORG · 1× Erin Piacenti PERSON · 1× NYPD ORG · 1× Pamela Cisneros PERSON · 1× Queens GPE · 1× Tak Kam PERSON · 1× Target ORG · 1×

Narrative

The footage captures police pleading with Pamela Cisneros — a mentally disturbed mom of three — to drop two knives at 42nd Street and 7th Avenue shortly after her unhinged stabbing rampage where she randomly attacked two people on Aug. 31.
framing: assertive · carried by 1 article(s) · first seen 2026-09-26

Claims (28 extracted, 0 hedged)

Harrowing NYPD body camera footage released Friday evening revealed the final moments before cops fatally shot a crazed knife-wielding woman in Times Square last month. asserted
cops → harrow → Square
The footage captures police pleading with Pamela Cisneros — a mentally disturbed mom of three — to drop two knives at 42nd Street and 7th Avenue shortly after her unhinged stabbing rampage where she randomly attacked two people on Aug. 31. asserted
she → capture → Aug.
Cisneros, of Queens, had pulled two knives out of a red Target bag and first stabbed Tak Kam, 68, in the abdomen as he exited the subway on West 41st Street and was waiting to cross the street, police said. asserted
police → pull → street
She then continued up to 42nd Street and plunged a knife into Bank of America exec Erin Piacenti, 32, killing her just after she returned from maternity leave. asserted
she → continue → leave
Officers Ryan Brito and Francis Gagliano first encountered Cisneros, 49, and begged her to put the knife down and breathe, the footage showed. asserted
footage → encounter → knife
“Put the knife down,” Brito told Cisneros as she held two kitchen knives in front of her chest. asserted
she → put → chest
“Come and get me,” Cisneros said, to which Gagliano replied, “I don’t want to get you.” asserted
I → come → you
“I’m tired of this world already,” Cisneros said. asserted
Cisneros → ’m → world
“I get it, I understand … asserted
I → get → it
I understand, but why? asserted
I → understand → ?
What’s going on?” Brito said. asserted
Brito → go → ?
The two cops kept telling Cisneros to calm down and breathe, with Brito trying to appeal to Cisneros’ emotions. asserted
Brito → tell → emotions
“I get it. asserted
I → get → it
I know New York City is hard. asserted
City → know → ?
Trust me, we all suffer,” Brito told her. asserted
Brito → trust → her
“You believe in God?” he asked, to which Cisneros replied: “No. asserted
Cisneros → believe → which
“You’re going to have to kill me. asserted
You → go → me
Yes, you are,” she told the cops. asserted
she → tell → cops
“Either that, or I’m going to kill all of you.” asserted
I → go → you
“Listen, I know you’re going through a lot, but it’s not worth it,” Brito pleaded with her. asserted
Brito → listen → her
“It’s not worth it. asserted
It → ’ → ?
I promise you.” asserted
I → promise → you
More officers rushed to the scene and repeatedly asked Cisneros to drop the knives. “I’m not dropping anything,” Cisneros vowed. asserted
Cisneros → rush → anything
Cisneros began waving the two knives in a circle to her side — sparking cops to deploy a host of tasers at her. asserted
cops → begin → her
Seemingly unfazed by the tasers, she began to charge toward the cops while screaming. asserted
she → begin → cops
Officers Joseph O’Connor and Steven Darcy then fired off three rounds at Cisneros, causing her to collapse forward onto the sidewalk. asserted
her → fire → sidewalk
The knife-wielding maniac was rushed to a local hospital, where was pronounced dead. asserted
maniac → wield → hospital
Cisneros had a documented mental health history with police, including a suicide attempt. asserted
Cisneros → have → attempt
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