The shooting happened just before 4.30pm next to a New York Police Department substation, just outside One Times Square, the building that hosts the city’s annual New Year’s Eve ball drop celebration.
It is one of the most popular tourist sites and policed spots in all of New York.
The 49-year-old woman from Queens pulled out two knives from a shopping bag and stabbed a 68-year-old man who had just come out of the subway station and was waiting to cross the street with his wife, striking him in the abdomen, Police Commissioner Jessica Tisch said.
Seconds later, the woman stabbed a 32-year-old woman also in the abdomen, Tisch said.
Both victims were taken to the hospital. The woman died and the man is in stable condition, according to police.
Police didn’t say if the victims were tourists visiting the city or residents.
Videos posted on social media show a group of at least 10 officers gathered around the woman, who was holding two large kitchen knives.
Officers tried to convince the woman to drop the knives for several minutes before using a Taser, Tisch said. The woman told them: “I’m not dropping anything, I would rather kill both of you,” according to Tisch.
The video shows the Taser not incapacitating her and the woman walking quickly towards the officers while waving the knives in front of her.
Two officers then shot the woman, according to police. In the video posted by bystanders, the woman fell to the ground, where an officer handcuffed her. Officers rolled her onto her back and rendered first aid.
The woman has a “documented mental health history with the NYPD,” which include incidents in 2018 and 2019 but no arrest history with the department, Tisch said. She didn’t provide additional details.
Police are investigating. Tisch said there was no evidence suggesting it was a terrorist attack.
“We know that those families’ lives have been shattered by what took place today, and we will continue to hold them close as the hours and days and weeks continue from this moment,” said Mayor Zohran Mamdani .
Both Mamdani and Tisch praised the officers, saying more people could have been hurt or killed if not for their actions.
Violent crime has fallen sharply in New York City so far this year, with homicides down 24 percent and on pace to potentially hit their lowest level in decades.
This is the second killing this year in Times Square. A man was fatally stabbed in the same area in May. (AP)
