Times Square Shooting Was Justified, but Experts Say It Put People in Danger

On a Monday afternoon in New York City, police shot and killed a 49-year-old woman named Pamela Cisneros in Times Square. She had been carrying two kitchen knives and had already stabbed two people, killing one of them. Officers tried to talk her into dropping the knives for about four minutes before they opened fire. Experts say the shooting was likely justified, but they also raised concerns about how the officers handled the situation.

Videos of the incident were posted on social media and showed about seven officers standing in a half-circle around Ms. Cisneros. She was gripping a knife in each hand and swinging her arms. Officers first tried using Tasers on her. Then she moved toward them quickly, and some of the officers shot her.

Law enforcement experts reviewed the videos and said the shooting was legally justified. However, they also pointed out things that could have gone wrong. Philip Stinson, a criminologist at Bowling Green State University in Ohio, said the scene was very dangerous. 'There are people, including officers, out there who are directly in the line of fire,' he said.

One big concern was that Seventh Avenue, a busy street, stayed open during the standoff. Cars, taxis, cyclists, and people on foot passed by just seconds before the shots were fired. Experts said a supervisor should have closed off nearby streets to make the area safer. Stuart Schwartz, a retired New York Police Department captain, said the officers 'could have tried to close off the cross streets to make the scene safer.'

Schwartz also said the half-circle formation put the officers themselves at risk. If an officer fired and missed, the bullet could have hit another officer. 'That means an officer could have shot a partner,' he said. He was relieved that no bystander was killed.

New York City's police commissioner, Jessica S. Tisch, defended the officers at a press conference Monday night. She said the officers 'did exactly what they're trained to do.' She also noted that officers spoke with Ms. Cisneros for four minutes and gave her many commands to drop the knives before shooting. Professor Stinson said it is easy to look back and say the street should have been closed, but in the moment, officers likely expected to resolve the situation without gunfire.

The incident also sparked a bigger debate about how cities should respond when someone is having a mental health crisis in public. New York City Mayor Zohran Mamdani has said that mental health workers should respond to some of these situations instead of — or alongside — police. However, the mayor also said that plan would not apply when someone is already being violent. 'What we are speaking about is an alleged perpetrator who stabbed two individuals before being engaged by police,' he said.

Still, some experts believe a mental health professional on the scene could have helped. Kirk Burkhalter is a retired police detective who now teaches at New York Law School. He said a trained clinician might have been able to calm Ms. Cisneros down during the four minutes officers spent talking to her. 'In a perfect world, we should have enough mental health professionals to serve the entire city,' he said. He added that cities need to invest money to make sure these workers are available, just like police officers and firefighters are.