New York City Mayor Zohran Mamdani thanked NYPD officers who stepped in and "prevented a horrific attack from becoming even worse"
A 32-year-old woman has been killed and another victim is in hospital following a double stabbing in Times Square, New York late on Monday afternoon.
The suspect, a woman wielding two knives, was shot by police. All three people were taken to hospital, where the female victim and the suspect were later pronounced dead, Mayor Zohran Mamdani told a news conference.
The deceased victim was later identified as Erin Piacenti, a Bank of America employee. The male victim remains in a stable condition.
New York Police Department (NYPD) Commissioner Jessica Tisch described the attack as "unprovoked" and said the stabbings took place 20 seconds apart.
Citing preliminary information, Tisch said the NYPD call centre received several 911 calls at approximately 16:24 local time (21:00 BST) reporting a woman armed with two knives was stabbing people along Seventh Avenue in Times Square.
Police believe the incident began near West 41st Street and Seventh Ave, in Midtown Manhattan.
The suspect approached a man who had just exited the subway and was standing with his wife waiting to cross the street, Tisch told a news conference.
"A witness at the scene told investigators that he observed the subject remove two knives from a red Target bag before approaching the first victim.
"The subject waved the knives before stabbing a 68-year-old man in the right side of his abdomen, in what appears to be a random and unprovoked attack."
The 68-year-old was taken to Bellevue Hospital and is now stable.
The suspect continued up Seventh Avenue towards 42nd Street, which is where she stabbed the second victim, Piacenti, who did not survive after being taken to hospital.
Bank of America said in a statement to the BBC: "We are shocked and deeply saddened by the tragic loss of our colleague. She was a valued teammate who will be greatly missed. Our hearts go out to her family and all of her loved ones."
The suspect continued on Seventh Avenue, which is when police tried to get her to drop her weapons, speaking to her for four minutes, the NYPD commissioner said.
"During the encounter she told the officers 'I'm not dropping anything, I'd rather kill both of you'. She repeated 'I will kill you'," Tisch said.
