CAMBRIDGE, MASS. (WHDH) - A man accused of swinging two large machete-type knives around at a bus stop and slashing a bystander in the head in Cambridge on Friday night has been arrested after an 18-hour standoff, officials said.
Officers who first interacted with the man, later identified as Princiano Faustin, 51, of Cambridge, in Central Square around 6:40 p.m., where he was spotted swinging the machetes and hitting the bystander, according to Cambridge police.
Police say Faustin refused multiple commands and yelled that he wanted police to shoot him. Although he was shot with a less-than-lethal launcher, he continued to his apartment building and barricaded himself inside.
The person he allegedly hit with a machete was taken to a nearby hospital to be treated for non-life-threatening injuries.
Over the course of 18 hours officers worked with crisis negotiators, mental health clinicians, and judicial partners in an effort to end the situation peacefully. Around 2 a.m., a pepper ball was fired through a window and it failed to get him to comply.
After an arrest warrant was issued, Faustin was taken into custody just before 1 p.m.
He will be arraigned in Cambridge District Court at a later date.
(Copyright (c) 2026 Sunbeam Television. All Rights Reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.)