Man With Knife Taken Into Custody at Cottage Grove Elementary
Published: February 3rd , 2026
Cottage Grove MN. — A 46-year-old Cottage Grove man was taken into custody late Monday morning after police responded to reports of an individual waving a butcher knife at Cottage Grove Elementary School.
According to the Cottage Grove Police Department, officers were dispatched to the school at approximately 11:59 a.m. after school staff reported a man displaying a knife. While officers were en route, dispatchers advised that the individual was possibly intoxicated and had been seen driving erratically in the school’s parking lot.
Police say the individual never made it past the school’s locked vestibule. Officers were able to safely apprehend him without incident.
As a precaution, school staff immediately placed the building into lockdown and called 911, following established safety procedures. All students and staff were reported safe, and the lockdown has since been lifted.
The man, a Cottage Grove resident, is being transported to the Washington County Jail pending the issuance of a criminal complaint.
Authorities credited the quick response of school staff, Washington County dispatchers, and responding officers for the rapid resolution of the incident, which police say lasted approximately six minutes from the initial call to the individual being taken into custody.
The incident remains under active investigation, and no additional details are being released at this time.