Relatives of the woman who launched a deadly stabbing attack in Times Square say she had been struggling through a painful divorce and had spent years cut off from her daughters.
Pamela Cisneros Lopez, 49, fatally stabbed 32-year-old Bank of America executive Erin Piacenti and wounded a 68-year-old man during a violent outburst in the busy Midtown Manhattan tourist hub at around 4:30 p.m. Monday.
Chilling video from the scene shows Lopez in a pink T-shirt and cross-body bag, gripping two kitchen knives as officers tried to subdue her with a Taser before ultimately shooting her dead.
Her brother, Patrick Peralta, 58, told Our News Outlet on Tuesday that Lopez had been diagnosed with bipolar disorder roughly a decade ago, years after suffering postpartum depression following the birth of her second child.
Peralta spoke from the family’s longtime home in Jackson Heights, Queens, where Lopez and her siblings were raised and where stunned relatives gathered after learning of the Times Square tragedy.
He described the family as close, saying Lopez was the youngest of six children. She worked in human resources and, according to her brother, attended church every day.
As Peralta recounted the hardships his sister had endured in recent years, the sound of a woman sobbing could be heard from inside the Queens home.
Lopez had three daughters, ranging in age from their late teens to late twenties, Peralta said. Her youngest and oldest daughters had been living in Florida with their father and had been estranged from her for years because of her earlier mental health struggles.
Pamela Cisneros Lopez, 49, was killed on Monday after fatally stabbing Erin Piacenti and injuring an unidentified man. Her shell-shocked brother spoke with Our News Outlet on Tuesday
Erin Piacenti was the vice president of business selection and conflicts at the Bank of America
Lopez, 49, was gunned down after running at officers with the two kitchen knives, as caught in disturbing surveillance footage from Times Square
Lopez’s middle child is non-verbal with severe autism, and lives at a care home in Brooklyn. Peralta said that Lopez had struggled with postpartum depression since her birth, and had tried to bring the children up for years until she could no longer cope.
‘I think she felt like she hadn’t accomplished anything with her life because she was at home with the kids,’ Peralta told Our News Outlet.
Lopez had also been ‘going through a divorce for the past five to eight years,’ and Peralta said he wasn’t sure whether it had been finalized.
‘There was a lot of back and forth’ with her ex-husband, he told Our News Outlet.
Peralta, who works as a surgical technician in the city, said Lopez’s mental health reached a crisis point in 2019, when she attempted suicide.
‘She threw herself on the train tracks at Jamaica station,’ he said. ‘Somebody pulled her off the tracks.’
Peralta said his sister suffered a bruise on her ankle and needed sutures in her head following the ordeal.
However, since then, Lopez had been turning her life around while taking medication for bipolar disorder and had seemed ‘fine’ for about six years, he said.
Her brother, Patrick Peralta, told Our News Outlet the next day that she had been diagnosed with bipolar disorder about ten years ago, following a bout of postpartum depression
In fact, Lopez had been caring for her mother after she had three heart surgeries, and even organized a large family party for her father’s birthday on August 8, which was the last time Peralta saw her.
‘She seemed good, she seemed fine,’ he told Our News Outlet.
The only warning sign was that Lopez, who lived alone in Woodside, usually ate dinner at her mother’s house every night, but had not turned up for about a week.
On the day of the stabbing, Lopez was supposed to be at work, her brother said.
Peralta said he recognized his sister in footage of the stabbing on the news and called police.
‘It was the worst thing I have ever watched,’ he told Our News Outlet. ‘I had a premonition that it was her and called the police.
‘I don’t know what was going through her head, but I think she wanted to get shot.
‘I don’t know where the rage came from. I was in shock because she was never violent. I’m still numb.’
Crime scene investigators at the New York tourist hotspot on Monday evening
The two knives that police recovered at the scene following the double stabbing
‘She seemed normal the last time I saw her – there were no signs that something like this could happen,’ he added.
‘She was taking medication – she gave herself injections every month. Maybe she didn’t take the last one and started going off track after that.’
He said they ‘grew up together’ in Jackson Heights, and their parents had migrated from Ecuador in the 1970s.
Peralta said his family has been ‘devastated’ by the stabbings, and apologized to the victims’ families.
‘My entire family is so sorry for the two victims,’ he said.
‘We never wish hurt on anybody and we are so, so sorry that happened to them.’
Piacenti has been named as the woman who died in the random attack.
Piacenti alongside her husband, Frank, celebrating their wedding day in August 2024
Bank of America described Piacenti as a ‘valued teammate’ as they extended their condolences to her family and friends
The 32-year-old was a vice president in BofA’s business selection and conflicts unit, according to her LinkedIn profile.
Social media posts indicate that she recently celebrated her second wedding anniversary, having married her husband Frank in August 2024.
The couple lived in a $1.7 million home in Chester, New Jersey.
Lopez stabbed her in the stomach before turning on an unidentified 68-year-old man, who is in hospital recovering.
‘We are shocked and deeply saddened by the tragic loss of our colleague,’ Bank of America said in a statement on Tuesday.
‘She was a valued teammate who will be greatly missed. Our hearts go out to her family and all of her loved ones.’
The New York City mayor said on Monday that a woman carrying multiple knives stabbed two people in Times Square before police used a Taser and fired their weapons.
Zohran Mamdani added at the news conference: ‘I want to thank the NYPD officers who stepped in and prevented a horrific attack from becoming even worse.’
