Woman randomly stabs 2 people in New York City's Times Square, killing 1, then is killed by police

NEW YORK (AP) — A woman randomly stabbed two people in New York City’s Times Square, killing one woman, and then was fatally shot by police, according to the New York Police Department.

The shooting happened 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 heavily touristed and policed spots in all of New York.

The woman pulled out two knives from a shopping bag and stabbed a 68-year-old man in the abdomen before quickly turning and stabbing a 32-year-old woman also in the abdomen, police said at a news conference Monday evening. Both were taken to the hospital. The woman died and the man is in stable condition, according to police.

Videos posted on social media show a group of at least 10 officers gathered around the woman, who was holding two large kitchen knives. At least one officer appeared to try to subdue her with a Taser, but it did not incapacitate her, the video shows.

The video then shows the woman walking quickly toward the officers while waving the knives in front of her. As one officer backed up, he and at least two others pulled their handguns, and the sound of gunshots could be heard.

In the video, the woman fell to the ground, where an officer handcuffed her. Officers rolled her onto her back and rendered first aid.

Manhattan Borough President Brad Hoylman-Sigal confirmed the stabbings in a post on the social platform X. Their conditions were not immediately released.