The caught-on-camera mayhem erupted in the Crossroads of the World after Pamela Cisneros, 49, randomly knifed a man and a woman in a 20-second span near West 41st Street and Seventh Avenue just before 4:30 p.m., cops said.
Officers found Cisneros a block away behind an NYPD substation, waving two knives at them, according to sources and harrowing footage of the confrontation.
Two officers then opened fire, striking the Cisneros, who had a known history of mental illness with the department. She was pronounced dead at Bellevue Hospital.
The unprovoked stabbings and subsequent shooting all occured in roughly 20 minutes and sent panicked tourists and commuters scrambling for safety.