It seemed that the confrontation was about to end: several police officers surrounded Pamela Cisneros, while she held two knives. The officers had already tried to stop her with stun guns, but the woman remained standing.
Then she began advancing toward them.
The police ultimately shot her, and Cisneros later died in the hospital. But the images left one question: why did the Tasers fail to incapacitate her?
According to a retired NYPD expert consulted by The New York Post, there are several possible explanations.
A Taser needs both of its probes to make proper contact with the body to cause neuromuscular incapacitation. In this case, one of the probes may have struck the bag Cisneros was carrying, while other factors, such as her clothing and physical build, may have prevented the electrical discharge from producing the expected effect.
The officers had spent approximately four minutes trying to convince her to put down the weapons. Cisneros refused and, according to police, told them that she would rather kill them than surrender the knives.
When she finally advanced toward the officers, two police officers used their firearms.
The result was fatal.
The case once again shows that a Taser does not work simply because a person receives an electrical shock: the position of the probes, clothing, and contact with the body can determine whether it actually manages to stop someone.
In Times Square, those factors meant that the police had to make a decision within seconds.