Pamela Cisneros’ Father Thought She Was Finally Doing Better—Then the Times Square Attack Revealed a Devastating Change No One Saw Coming
For Pamela Cisneros’ family, the events in Times Square have raised a painful question: how could someone they believed was doing better suddenly become involved in a deadly attack?
Cisneros, 49, of Queens, was fatally shot by NYPD officers on August 31 after police said she stabbed two people in Times Square. One victim, 32-year-old Bank of America vice president Erin Piacenti, died from her injuries, while a 68-year-old man survived and was hospitalized. Authorities described the stabbing as random and unprovoked and said there was no indication that it was terrorism-related.
In the aftermath, details from Cisneros’ family have offered a glimpse into a long and complicated history of mental-health struggles.
Her father had reportedly played an active role in helping her through treatment after a serious crisis several years ago. Police have confirmed that Cisneros had mental-health-related encounters with the NYPD in both 2018 and 2019, although she had no arrest history with the department.
According to accounts from relatives, her condition had appeared to improve in recent years. Her brother Patrick Peralta said she had struggled with psychiatric problems for decades but was not known to be aggressive or violent. She had been taking medication and, to her family, appeared considerably more stable than she had been during earlier periods of crisis.
That apparent stability is what makes the family’s account particularly difficult to process.
Cisneros’ father had continued accompanying her to mental-health appointments, according to family accounts, but at some point she told him that she could manage her treatment herself and that he should not worry. The change may have seemed reassuring to a parent who wanted to believe his daughter was finally capable of moving forward independently.
There were also few obvious signs of an impending crisis during family interactions. Relatives described seeing her at a family birthday gathering and said she appeared normal. Her brother told the Associated Press that he last saw her at a relative’s birthday gathering early last month. He also said she had skipped some family dinners shortly before the attack but had reassured her mother during a phone call that she was okay.
Then came the news from Times Square.
Police say Cisneros pulled two knives from a shopping bag and attacked two strangers within seconds. Officers later confronted her and repeatedly ordered her to drop the weapons. According to police, she refused and advanced toward officers while holding the knives. Officers first attempted to use Tasers before two officers fired their weapons.
The tragedy has left Cisneros’ family searching for answers while Piacenti’s loved ones mourn a woman whose life was cut short during what should have been an ordinary afternoon in Manhattan.
The available information does not establish why Cisneros allegedly attacked strangers or whether changes in her treatment directly contributed to what happened. Those questions remain part of an ongoing investigation.
What is clear is that the family believed she had been doing better—and nothing about the ordinary family moments immediately before the attack appeared to prepare them for what was about to unfold.
