Tourists and office workers scattered in terror Monday afternoon after a woman pulled two knives from a shopping bag and began stabbing strangers in the middle of Times Square — a rampage that ended less than a block later when NYPD officers opened fire, killing her.

Police say the attacker, identified as 49-year-old Pamela Cisneros of Queens, approached a couple near West 42nd Street and Seventh Avenue around 4:26 p.m. and, without warning, stabbed a 68-year-old man in the side. She then walked roughly a block north and stabbed a second victim, 32-year-old Erin Piacenti of Chester, New Jersey, in the abdomen — the two attacks separated by about 20 seconds, according to CBS News New York.

Piacenti, who worked for Bank of America, died at the hospital. The 68-year-old man, a visitor from Rhode Island, was rushed into surgery with life-threatening injuries but has since stabilized.

Standoff outside the police substation

Witnesses flagged down officers as Cisneros fled toward the NYPD's own Times Square substation, where responding police confronted her. What followed was a four-minute standoff: officers say they repeatedly ordered her to drop the knives, and she refused, allegedly threatening their lives instead.

Officers deployed tasers twice, but police say the shocks failed to stop her — and when she advanced on them with the blades still raised, two officers opened fire, killing her.

The NYPD says an internal review of the shooting is standard procedure and that body-worn camera footage from the officers involved will be made public as part of the investigation, according to PIX11.

Investigators say Cisneros had a documented history with the department's mental health response teams, with two prior police encounters in 2018 and 2019 — but no criminal arrests on record, according to NBC New York. No motive for Monday's attack has been released, and police have stressed the assault appears to have been entirely random.

The stabbings briefly shut down one of the busiest tourist corridors in the country during the after-work rush, with video from the scene showing crowds fleeing past souvenir shops and street performers as officers moved in. Times Square, patrolled around the clock by one of the NYPD's most visible details, has seen a string of high-profile violent incidents in recent years, reviving debate over street safety and mental-health crisis response in the area.

The NYPD's internal affairs unit and the district attorney's office are both expected to review the shooting, standard practice whenever officers use deadly force. Piacenti's family has not yet issued a public statement. No further public events or hearings have been scheduled as of Tuesday morning.