New York Attorney General Letitia James’ office has opened a legally required investigation into the police shooting of Pamela Cisneros, the Queens woman who fatally stabbed Bank of America executive Erin Piacenti in Times Square before officers shot her. The probe, announced Wednesday by the Attorney General’s Office of Special Investigation, is mandated under state law whenever a death results from police action.
Piacenti, a new mother, was killed in her first week back at work after maternity leave. Police say Cisneros was holding two large knives when officers confronted her, ordered her to drop them, and shot her when she moved toward them after failing to comply.
The investigation has drawn criticism from Saritha Komatireddy, the Republican candidate for Attorney General, who argues the review misses the larger issue.
“The problem is that we have people who are known dangerous individuals, people with documented mental illness,” Komatireddy told Fox News Digital. “They’ve been in the courts before, or they’ve been to the hospitals before. The police know exactly who they are, but we have no ability to take care of them.”
A spokesperson for James’ campaign pushed back, saying Komatireddy “wants to be Attorney General but doesn’t understand the law,” and noting that state Executive Law requires the office to investigate any incident where a police officer’s actions may have caused a death.
New York City Mayor Zohran Mamdani, speaking at a news conference, thanked the responding officers. “I want to thank the NYPD officers who stepped in and prevented a horrific attack from becoming even worse,” he said.
A Documented History
NYPD Commissioner Jessica Tisch said Cisneros, a Queens resident, had no arrest record in the city but had two prior police contacts tied to mental health crises. In March 2019, she attempted suicide by jumping onto E train tracks and was hospitalized. In March 2018, officers found her in Midtown screaming and acting belligerent and intoxicated.
If you or someone you know is having thoughts of suicide, contact the National Suicide Prevention Lifeline at 1-800-273-TALK (8255).
Under the state’s Mental Hygiene Law, police and doctors can place someone on a psychological hold if they’re deemed a risk to themselves or others, or unable to meet basic needs — but those individuals are often released back onto the street within hours.
“I was there in Times Square — just a couple of days after this fatal stabbing — and I was walking around and saw severely mentally ill people on the street,” Komatireddy said. “It’s still happening every day, and we need someone who’s actually going to propose a real solution and way forward.”
A Proposed Fix
The New York State Office of Mental Health oversees 23 psychiatric centers and 6,500 programs run through local governments and nonprofits. Komatireddy says that structure isn’t enough and has proposed creating a new Office of Civil Commitment, staffed jointly by law enforcement and physicians, to track and intervene with the highest-risk individuals.
“There’s nothing like that right now in New York State. There’s no office that has both law enforcement and physicians who can work together to get these people off the streets,” Komatireddy said.
The strain isn’t limited to New York City. Greene County Sheriff Peter Kusminsky told Fox News Digital his deputies aren’t trained to handle psychiatric crises and have nowhere to send people who need care, forcing them to sometimes place people in hotels when hospital beds aren’t available.
“We really struggle when we have people in custody who we aren’t equipped to handle, and secure beds are even harder to find,” Kusminsky said. “It sometimes takes weeks or months to locate once and when we do, they are maybe on the other side of the state and at an exorbitant cost.”
“Hotels and motels don’t have doctors, don’t have medicine, don’t have therapy,” Komatireddy said. “The state needs to step in.”
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