THE CHANGE HER FAMILY DIDN’T SEE COMING — PAMELA CISNEROS’ FAMILY THOUGHT SHE WAS FINALLY GETTING BETTER

Her family had watched Pamela Cisneros struggle for years. They had seen the darkest moments — and then they believed she was finally back on the right track.

But something changed.

In the months before the shocking Times Square attack, Cisneros had reportedly begun pulling away from the treatment and family routines that had helped keep her stable.

Then, on a busy Monday afternoon in Manhattan, 49-year-old Cisneros allegedly walked through Times Square carrying two kitchen knives.

Within minutes, one woman was dead, another person was injured, and Cisneros herself had been fatally shot by police.

The victim was Erin Piacenti, a 32-year-old Bank of America vice president and new mother, who had recently returned to work following maternity leave.

Now, as investigators work to understand what happened, Cisneros’ family is left looking back at the warning signs they say they never believed could lead to such a horrifying outcome.

“DON’T WORRY ABOUT ME”

Cisneros had reportedly battled serious mental-health problems for years.

Her father, Mario Cisneros, said a major crisis came in 2019, when Pamela attempted to jump in front of a subway train in Queens.

Afterward, her family became heavily involved in helping her.

Mario began taking his daughter to monthly appointments at Jamaica Hospital Medical Center, where she received injections that he believed helped keep her stable.

For years, he thought the treatment was working.

He believed his daughter had finally “turned a corner.”

But earlier this year, that confidence began to fade.

Her father said Pamela eventually refused his offer to accompany her to a regular appointment.

She told him she could go on her own.

He remembered her reassuring him not to worry.

Months later, his daughter would be at the centre of a deadly attack in one of the world’s busiest tourist destinations.

A FAMILY HISTORY FILLED WITH TURMOIL

Behind the woman her family knew was a complicated personal history.

Cisneros studied psychology and eventually earned a master’s degree. She also worked at an immigration law firm, but struggled with employment and financial difficulties at various points in her life.

She married in 1999 and had children with her husband, Jose Lopez.

The couple later separated and moved through a difficult period involving financial problems and a custody dispute.

Lopez filed for divorce in Florida in 2020, and court records show the former couple became involved in a dispute over custody of their youngest daughter.

By then, Cisneros had returned to Queens.

Her family was dealing with more than a broken marriage.

They were also watching someone they loved struggle with serious mental-health issues.

Her brother, Patrick Peralta, later said the family had believed she was doing well for several years.

He described her as someone who had never been aggressive and said she had been receiving treatment.

But shortly before the Times Square attack, relatives became concerned when she stopped attending their regular family gatherings.

THEN CAME TIMES SQUARE

On August 31, Cisneros allegedly approached strangers in Times Square.

Police said she first attacked 68-year-old Tak Kam, stabbing him in the abdomen.

Seconds later, she allegedly attacked Piacenti.

Piacenti was rushed to Bellevue Hospital but died from her injuries.

There was reportedly no known connection between Cisneros and either victim.

Police described the attack as random and unprovoked.

For Piacenti’s family, the tragedy was particularly devastating.

She had recently welcomed her first child with her husband, Frank.

She had also just returned to work after maternity leave.

What should have been an ordinary journey home became her final day.

FOUR MINUTES THAT ENDED IN GUNFIRE

After the attacks, police confronted Cisneros.

She was still holding a knife in each hand.

Officers spent approximately four minutes ordering her to drop the weapons.

Tas resources were deployed, but police said they were ineffective.

When Cisneros allegedly moved toward officers with the knives, two officers opened fire.

She was taken to a hospital, where she died.

The NYPD’s Force Investigation Division is examining the police shooting.

WHAT DID HER FAMILY MISS?

That may be the question haunting those who knew Pamela Cisneros best.

Her father believed she was getting help.

Her brother believed she had been stable.

Her family had spent years trying to support her through difficult periods.

And yet, in the days before the Times Square attack, relatives noticed changes in her behaviour and routines.

There is no evidence that her mental-health history, postpartum depression or marital problems alone explain what happened.

But they form part of the complicated background investigators and her family are now trying to understand.

For the Cisneros family, the woman they remember is not easily reconciled with the person seen in the terrifying Times Square footage.

And for Erin Piacenti’s loved ones, no explanation can undo the loss of a 32-year-old wife, daughter, colleague and new mother.

The question now is not simply what happened in Times Square.

It is what changed in Pamela Cisneros — and how a woman her family believed was finally getting better ended up at the centre of a tragedy that shocked New York.