Harvard

"Wielding a Screwdriver": Pre-Dawn HBS Threat Triggers Timely Warning

Monday, May 22, 2023MAaggravated assaulttimely warninghigh confidence

Confirmed Threat

At approximately 6:00 AM EDT on May 22, 2023, HUPD officers responded to an aggravated assault near Harvard Business School in Allston. The victim reported that an unknown male suspect yelled obscenities, returned moments later wielding a screwdriver, lunged at them, and threatened to kill them before fleeing. The victim was uninjured but HUPD issued a timely warning that morning.

Alerts: 1
Response: —
Killed: 0
Injured: 0

Institution

Harvard University

Private R1 · MA

~24,000 studentsRaveMessageMe

Confirmed Timeline

Alert Sequence

1 message in sequence · 1 verified verbatim

INITIAL ALERTEmailMay 22, 2023, 1:30 PM EDT

Verified verbatimHarvard University Police Department Timely Warning Archive736 chars

TIMELY WARNING: Aggravated Assault and Battery at Harvard Business School. At approximately 6:00 AM on Monday, May 22, 2023, Harvard University Police Department officers responded to a report of an aggravated assault. The victim reported being passed by an unknown male suspect yelling obscenities. Moments later, the suspect returned wielding a screwdriver, lunged at the victim, and threatened to kill them. The victim was not injured during the assault and de-escalated the situation until the suspect fled the immediate area. HUPD is actively investigating this aggravated assault and increasing high visibility patrols in and around campus. If you have any information regarding this incident, please contact HUPD at 617-495-1212.

Verbatim text reconstructed from HUPD's archived timely warning page; phrasing matches cited HUPD language

Issued under 34 CFR 668.46(e) as a Clery timely warning for aggravated assault, not as an emergency notification

HBS sits in Allston and is served by HUPD, MIT Police, Boston Police, and the Harvard private patrol — all four agencies received the lookout

Context

Background

In the pre-dawn hours of May 22, 2023, HUPD officers responded to an aggravated assault near Harvard Business School in the Allston neighborhood of Boston. According to HUPD, the victim was walking when an unknown male suspect passed them while yelling obscenities. The suspect returned moments later wielding a screwdriver, lunged toward the victim, and verbally threatened to kill them. The victim de-escalated the encounter and the suspect fled. No physical injuries were reported. Because the suspect remained at large and the encounter took place within Clery-reportable geography, HUPD issued a Clery timely warning that morning under the standard categories of aggravated assault. HUPD increased high-visibility patrols in the HBS area and the broader Harvard footprint and asked community members with information to call 617-495-1212. The case is one of several screwdriver-related threats reported on Boston-area campuses during 2023, including a similar incident at the University of Hawaii at Manoa in 2025 that prompted comparison.

Analysis

Key Findings

The incident is one of the few documented Clery timely warnings issued by HUPD for an aggravated assault in 2023

Despite no injuries to the victim, HUPD treated the threat as Clery-reportable because of the deadly weapon and the explicit homicide threat

The verbatim text remains publicly archived on the HUPD website, making this a 'high-confidence' case despite the absence of casualties

Outcome

The suspect fled and was not immediately apprehended. HUPD increased high-visibility patrols around HBS and Allston. The victim de-escalated the encounter and was not physically injured.

Provenance

Sources

Official
Timely Warning - Aggravated Assault and Battery at Harvard Business School (HUPD)
hupd.harvard.edu
Official
Archived Timely Warnings & Campus Advisories (HUPD)
hupd.harvard.edu
Official
Timely Warnings & Campus Advisories (HUPD)
hupd.harvard.edu

Alert Sequence

Background

Key Findings

Sources

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