A woman armed with a knife was shot by New York police officers in Times Square on Monday afternoon, in an incident witnessed by hundreds of tourists in one of the world's busiest public squares. Police said the woman, who has not been named, had stabbed a man and a woman before officers arrived and confronted her between Seventh Avenue and 42nd Street shortly after 4.30pm; she reportedly charged at officers before being shot. The incident has prompted the NYPD to urge people to avoid the area while they investigate, though officials say there is no indication it was terror-related.

A witness said the woman was carrying two knives, was surrounded and spoken to by officers for around five minutes, and was tasered before rushing at police, who then shot her twice. The condition of the two stabbing victims and the suspect has not been disclosed, and the NYPD has offered no further details beyond confirming the shooting. The episode follows a similar incident roughly two weeks earlier, in which a 54-year-old man was fatally shot by NYPD officers after charging at them with a butcher's knife during a response to an assault on the Lower East Side.