Aug. 31 (UPI) — A knife-wielding woman fatally stabbed one person and injured a second in Times Square on Monday evening, before being shot and killed by police, authorities said.

The alleged perpetrator has been identified as 49-year-old Pamela Cisneros of Queens, a woman with no history of arrest but a documented mental health history within New York Police Department, NYPD Commissioner Jessica Tisch told reporters during an evening press conference.

Tisch said the incident lasted about five minutes, with the two victims being stabbed within 20 seconds of one another, beginning near West 41st Street and 7th Avenue, with multiple calls reporting the stabbing being made at 4:24 p.m. EDT.

The first victim was identified as a 68-year-old man. Tisch, citing witnesses, said the man and his wife had exited the subway and were waiting to cross the street when the suspect removed two knives from a red Target bag, waved them around, then stabbed the man in the right side of the abdomen.

The suspect then proceeded up 7th Avenue toward 32nd Street and stabbed a 32-year-old woman, also in the abdomen. Both victims were transported to Bellevue Hospital, where the woman was pronounced dead and the man remains in stable condition.

Nearby officers, who were alerted to the stabbins by bystanders, spoke with the woman, attempting to convince her to drop her knives over a span of four minutes, according to Tisch, who said the woman refused and threatened to kill the police officers.

“‘I’m not dropping anything. I would rather kill both of you,'” Tisch said, quoting the suspect.

The suspect waved the knives and advanced toward the officers, who discharged Tasers to no effect. Two officers then opened fire with their service weapons, striking the woman, who was transported to the hospital where she was pronounced dead.

“This was an extraordinarily dangerous situation unfolding in the heart of Times Square, the crossroads of the world. At any given moment, there are thousands of New Yorkers, commuters, tourists, families, workers moving through these streets,” Tisch said.

“Our officers were confronted with a rapidly evolving threat with countless innocent people around them. In that moment, they did what we trained them to do. But tonight, our thoughts are of course with the victims of this horrific attack and their families. One life cut far too short by a senseless act of violence.”

NYC Mayor Zohran Mamdani said an internal investigation will be launched and body camera footage will be made public.

“I ask New Yorkers to join me in holding the victim in our thoughts and wishing them a full recovery,” he said.

The identities of the victims were being withheld until next-of-kin notifications were complete.

Two knives were recovered from the scene, and the NYPD posted a picture of them on social media.

Tisch would not detail the suspect’s documented mental health history with police but said there were two incidents, one in 2018 and another in 2019.

“We’ll have more to say about what she was doing in this area, how she got to this area as the investigation unfolds,” she said.

She told reporters that the police presence at Times Square has been “beefed up” for the summer as it has been “the heart of our celebrations” as New York City hosted World Cup soccer games and festivities associated with the 250th anniversary of the United States’ founding.

“We will continue to ensure that there is a heavy police footprint in this area,” she said.

“We understand that seeing police makes people feel safe.”