A deadly stabbing in Times Square quickly became a debate over police gunfire, Tasers and whether officers had any other option, but gun-rights commentator Colion Noir argued that another part of the scene deserved just as much attention: the bystanders who remained close enough to film while armed officers were confronting a woman holding two knives.
Noir was reacting to an NBC New York report by Ida Siegal about the Aug. 31 attack, in which police said Pamela Cisneros stabbed two strangers in Times Square before officers confronted and fatally shot her. One of the victims, 32-year-old Erin Piacenti, later died, while a 68-year-old man survived after being stabbed in the side.
For Noir, the police shooting itself was important, but he said the cellphone footage also showed how easily people can remain in a dangerous line of fire simply because they want to see what happens next.
Noir Says The Crowd Was Standing In The Wrong Place
The NBC report showed footage of Cisneros still holding two knives as officers ordered her to drop them.
According to Siegal, officers attempted to use Tasers before gunfire erupted, while police continued investigating the exact sequence of events.
What caught Noir’s attention was how many people remained nearby.
He said the instinct to watch and record is understandable because dramatic public incidents pull people’s attention toward the action, but that does not make the position safe.
Noir recalled being inside a Chipotle during a separate incident involving a man with a knife, when police entered with their hands near their weapons and some officers already had guns drawn.
Most people in the restaurant, he said, simply backed up several feet and kept watching.
Noir left instead.
His reasoning was straightforward: once guns are drawn and shots may be fired, a person does not need to be the intended target to be hit.
That is the part of these scenes that often gets overlooked. People tend to assume that because police are the ones holding the guns, everyone else nearby is automatically protected, but bullets that miss their intended target still travel somewhere.
“Missed Shots Don’t Evaporate”
Noir said bystanders should think less about getting a perfect recording and more about where they are standing in relation to the threat and the officers.
“Missed shots don’t evaporate,” he said.
They can strike walls, cars, storefronts or people standing behind the person officers are trying to stop.
Noir was not arguing that people should never record police activity.
In fact, he said video can be extremely valuable because it gives the public a way to review what happened instead of relying only on conflicting accounts afterward.
His point was that recording should come after moving to a safer position.
He recommended getting behind a vehicle, stepping around the corner of a building or moving sideways rather than simply backing straight up, because increasing distance without changing the angle can leave someone in the same line of fire.
That is practical advice regardless of where someone stands on guns or policing. In any violent confrontation, creating distance and placing solid cover between yourself and the danger is usually more useful than remaining in the open with a phone raised.
NBC Reported Two Stabbings Before Police Arrived
Siegal’s report said Cisneros first approached a man near Seventh Avenue and stabbed him in the side, then moved up the block and attacked Piacenti roughly 20 seconds later.
Piacenti was taken to the hospital but later died.
Police described the attacks as apparently random and unprovoked.
Cisneros then continued north with both knives still in her hands, where officers confronted her between 42nd and 43rd streets.
NYPD Commissioner Jessica Tisch said officers spent several minutes trying to get Cisneros to drop the weapons.
According to police, she repeatedly refused and threatened to kill the officers.
Tisch said stun guns were deployed but did not appear to stop her, and when Cisneros advanced toward officers, two officers opened fire.
She later died at the hospital.
Noir said the timing matters because police were reportedly flagged down quickly, with shots fired roughly one minute after the first stabbing.
That is an unusually fast response, he argued, yet both victims had already been attacked before officers could intervene.
Noir Uses The Timeline To Make A Broader Point
The case became part of a familiar gun-control argument for Noir, who said some people would view it as proof that restricting firearms reduces the damage one attacker can cause.
He rejected the idea that the weapon alone determined the outcome.
Cisneros had knives rather than a firearm, he said, but Piacenti was still fatally wounded and another stranger was injured within seconds.
Noir’s broader point was that intent and response time matter heavily in violent encounters, regardless of the weapon involved.
He also challenged the argument that people never need to think about their own safety because police are there to handle emergencies.
In this case, he said the officers responded about as fast as realistically possible and still arrived after the first critical moments had passed.
That is not necessarily a criticism of police.
It is simply a reminder that emergency response always begins after someone notices a problem and calls for help, which means victims and nearby witnesses may have to react before officers arrive.
Debate Over The Police Shooting
Noir also addressed criticism from people who believed officers could have avoided shooting Cisneros.
He noted that Tasers were used and, according to the police account he cited, failed to stop her.
Noir explained that Tasers can be unreliable if both probes do not make proper contact or if clothing interferes with the electrical connection.
He also pointed to the four minutes officers reportedly spent trying to convince Cisneros to drop the knives before the shooting.
According to Tisch, Cisneros had already stabbed two people, had threatened to kill officers and then advanced toward them while still armed.
Noir said he could understand why some viewers might ask whether officers could have aimed for a leg or another less-lethal target, especially if they believed her movement was limited.
Still, he argued that judging marksmanship frame by frame after the fact is very different from making a split-second decision while someone with two knives is moving toward you.
His conclusion was that the shooting appeared justified because a reasonable officer could believe there was an immediate risk of death or serious injury.
The Part He Thinks Most People Missed
Noir’s main concern was ultimately not whether every viewer agreed with his gun-rights argument.
It was the crowd behavior visible in the footage.
He said people should stop treating violent public incidents as something happening in front of them and start recognizing that they may already be part of the scene.
A bystander standing directly behind an armed suspect can become part of the danger even if nobody is aiming at them.
That does not mean people should ignore wrongdoing or stop documenting it.
It means they should move first.
The Times Square attack was already tragic before police arrived, with Piacenti killed and another man injured in a matter of seconds.
Noir’s argument was that once armed officers entered the scene, the safest contribution from everyone else was not to move closer for a better angle but to get out of the line of fire and let the confrontation unfold from behind cover.
Gary’s love for adventure and preparedness stems from his background as a former Army medic. Having served in remote locations around the world, he knows the importance of being ready for any situation, whether in the wilderness or urban environments. Gary’s practical medical expertise blends with his passion for outdoor survival, making him an expert in both emergency medical care and rugged, off-the-grid living. He writes to equip readers with the skills needed to stay safe and resilient in any scenario.
