A man reported to be carrying a knife near Harvard University prompted a roughly 42-minute search on Wednesday that wound through Harvard Square and ended in an arrest near Weeks Footbridge after a roughly six-minute chase across the JFK Bridge. Harvard issued a campus-wide shelter-in-place order while police tracked the man's movements in real time, and the order was lifted once he was taken into custody.
How the Chase Unfolded
According to WCVB, Harvard's emergency alert system first announced at approximately 11:41 a.m. that a person with a knife had been reported near campus, with the man initially seen on South Street heading toward JFK Street. The alert told affiliates to shelter in place if near the location and to avoid the area altogether. Harvard University Police and Cambridge Police began searching JFK Street and JFK Park, with the man reportedly seen on a bicycle as the search unfolded.
By 11:58 a.m., police said the search had shifted to Brattle Street, and the shelter-in-place order was reiterated, the station's report notes. The situation escalated at 12:17 p.m. when Harvard police approached the man in Cambridge Common; Harvard said officers then chased him as he ran toward Harvard Square and across the JFK Bridge. Per the same account, the suspect was caught by police near Weeks Footbridge at 12:23 p.m., and officials lifted the shelter-in-place order shortly after the arrest.
A separate account also reported that the man was taken into custody, according to WHDH
. Cambridge Police said the suspect faces charges of assault and disorderly conduct following the armed pursuit, WHDH reported.
Two Campus Emergencies 43 Days Apart
Wednesday's incident follows the September 1 campus lockdown, with the two events 43 days apart. On September 1, the university locked down after a man allegedly brandished a machete inside a Harvard Square coffee shop, touching off a multi-agency manhunt that ended near Mount Auburn Hospital, as Hoodline reported at the time.
The September 1 lockdown and Wednesday's knife report have put the Harvard community on edge entering the fall's biggest public event. The search took place around JFK Park, and the chase crossed the JFK Bridge before the arrest near Weeks Footbridge, three days before the 60th annual Head of the Charles Regatta, which runs October 17 through 19 and is expected to draw up to 300,000 spectators and 12,000 rowers to that same stretch of riverfront, according to the Boston Discovery Guide.
Emergency Response and Campus Alerts
Hoodline has previously reported that multiple agencies took part in the September 1 manhunt. Harvard's rapid alerts are also a legal obligation: under the federal Jeanne Clery Disclosure of Campus Security Policy and Campus Crime Statistics Act, institutions receiving federal financial aid must issue immediate emergency notifications once they confirm a significant emergency or dangerous situation posing an immediate threat on campus, according to the Clery Center.
It remains unclear whether Wednesday's suspect is connected to the September 1 machete incident.
The string of lockdowns follows an earlier security scare closer to home for students: in May, Harvard University Police investigated an intruder attack at Lowell House on Holyoke Place, where an unauthorized individual tailgated through electronic access doors and assaulted a student from behind before fleeing, Hoodline reported in May. Together, the incidents have reignited campus conversations about security protocols just as Cambridge braces for one of its largest annual crowds.
