Cambridge police said officers arrested a person who “brandished an edged weapon” in Harvard Square, prompting a brief law enforcement search and an emergency shelter-in-place order at Harvard University Tuesday morning.

No one was hurt in the incident at a coffee shop at around 8:47 a.m., according to Jennie Lopez, a spokesperson for Cambridge police. The person, Lopez said in a statement, was arrested “without incident” and will be charged with “Assault by Means and Disorderly Conduct.” Lopez said the weapon was not a machete.

Harvard University issued a shelter-in-place order at around 9:45 a.m. to alert community members that its police force, alongside city and state police, were searching for a person believed to be armed with a “knife” or “machete” near campus.

The order was lifted about 45 minutes later when community members were told police had a suspect in custody.

The first emergency alert on the Harvard website said university, city and Massachusetts State Police had been scouring the area around 124 Mount Auburn St. for a suspect they alleged was “involved in an aggravated assault and battery.”

Emergency alert issued by Harvard University officials on Tuesday morning. (Screenshot via Harvard University)

The search then moved to the areas of “Mt. Auburn, Ash and Hawthorne Street.”

Students are due to begin the first day of classes in the fall term on Wednesday, according to the university registrar’s office website.

WBUR’s Emily Piper-Vallillo, Rachell Sanchez-Smith and Amelia Mason contributed to this report.

This article was originally published on September 01, 2026.