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Harvard University issued a shelter-in-place order Tuesday morning as law enforcement searched for a man armed with an edged weapon near campus, according to local reports.
The suspect was taken into custody by the Massachusetts State Police, Cambridge Police Department director of communications Jennie Lopez told The Harvard Crimson. No injuries were reported.
Lopez told Fox News Digital that the man brandished the weapon at a coffee shop in Harvard Square shortly after 8:45 a.m. She clarified that the weapon was not a machete, contrary to earlier local media reports.
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A knife-wielding man was taken into custody Tuesday after brandishing a weapon at Harvard Square, authorities said. Harvard University briefly issued a shelter-in-place order. (Steve Rosenbach/iStock)
Cambridge and state police officers searched the area near John F. Kennedy Memorial Park for nearly an hour before the Harvard University Police Department (HUPD) issued its initial emergency alert, according to the student newspaper.
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Harvard Yard, the oldest part of the Harvard University campus, its historic center and modern crossroads. Massachusetts Hall on the left and Johnston Gate in the center. (A.P. Cortizas Jr./Getty Images)
In its alert, HUPD stated the suspect was involved in an aggravated assault and battery. The emergency order was eventually lifted.
The suspect faces charges of assault by means of a dangerous weapon and disorderly conduct, Lopez said.
The Harvard Crimson sports crest on banners at the Harvard University Athletics Complex in Boston, Massachusetts, on Tuesday, May 27, 2025. (Sophie Park/Bloomberg via Getty Images)
State police and campus police both referred Fox News Digital to the Cambridge Police Department. Fox News Digital has also reached out to the university.
