Times Square Stabber Pamela Cisneros Had Bipolar Disorder, Brother Says

Pamela Cisneros, 49, killed a banking executive and wounded a man in a random Times Square attack Monday before being shot dead by police. Her brother says she had battled mental illness for years.

Brother of Times Square stabber describes years of mental illness before deadly attack

Pamela Cisneros, the 49-year-old woman who stabbed two people near Times Square on Monday — killing one — had long struggled with mental illness and a history of erratic encounters with police, her brother and sources told NY Post Metro on Tuesday.

Patrick Peralta, 59, said his sister likely suffered from bipolar disorder and had been receiving monthly injections as treatment in recent years. She had shown no signs of imminent violence, he said.

"She never showed any aggressiveness or being violent. I don't know what happened," Peralta told the outlet. He added that Cisneros had reported feeling "fine" as recently as the Saturday before the attack.

Clutching two kitchen knives carried in a red Target bag, Cisneros first stabbed Tak Kam, a Rhode Island man who was in the city visiting his son, in the abdomen near West 41st Street and Seventh Avenue, police said. She then walked one block and fatally stabbed Erin Piacenti, 32, a Bank of America executive from New Jersey, in the abdomen.

Officers located Cisneros a block away behind an NYPD substation. Video of the confrontation, recorded around 4:30 p.m., shows officers initially deploying stun guns without effect as Cisneros swung her arms in wide arcs, a knife in each hand. Police then opened fire. Cisneros was transported to Bellevue Hospital, where she died of her wounds.

Peralta said he last saw his sister in person on August 10, at their stepfather's birthday gathering. He first encountered news of the attack on television Monday evening, initially dismissing it as "typical New York crap" — until photographs from the scene convinced him otherwise.

"That's when I found out, then I was concerned. I was hoping it wasn't her," he said.

According to Peralta and sources cited by NY Post Metro, Cisneros's mental health history was extensive. She attempted suicide several years ago and had been diagnosed with a mental health condition. She also experienced postpartum depression following the birth of her second child.

In March 2019, she attempted suicide by jumping in front of an E train in Queens, sources said. A belligerent and intoxicated Cisneros had previously drawn a police response along Lexington Avenue in December 2018. Sources also indicated she had criminal run-ins with police in Arizona, California and Florida, though details on those cases could not be verified.

Peralta speculated that a disruption in her treatment regimen may have contributed to Monday's attack.

"I think maybe she stopped the injection she was getting and that caused her to act the way she was," he said.

Court records show Cisneros's marriage ended in divorce. Her husband filed in Hillsborough County, Florida, in 2020; the sealed case concluded in 2025. Attorneys for both parties did not return requests for comment.

Cisneros was the mother of three daughters. Two live in Florida with their father, while a third, who is autistic, resides in a Brooklyn care home, Peralta said.

In the period before the attack, Cisneros appeared to turn increasingly toward religion, based on social media posts reviewed by NY Post Metro. In one 2025 post, she wrote that the "diminished love of people to the point of stabbing others for no reason" signaled the arrival of the biblical end times.

A LinkedIn profile bearing her name states she graduated from Touro University in 2021. Both Peralta and a neighbor said she had obtained a master's degree in psychology. She was employed at a law firm specializing in immigration, Peralta said.

A neighbor who said she had known Cisneros since birth described her as "an excellent woman," adding: "I don't know what happened with her."

Peralta said there had been no visible warning in the days immediately preceding the attack. Cisneros had been a regular visitor to their mother but had recently stopped coming by.

"There was no sign something was wrong," he said. "Last week she stopped coming to see my mother. We called, she said she was fine on Saturday."

Source: NY Post Metro