Man arrested after knife threat at Eugene Public Library

The Eugene Public Library’s second floor became the scene of a knife threat on a June afternoon, and the case did not end until police arrested a 33-year-old man a week later. The episode put one of downtown Eugene’s most heavily used public spaces under a spotlight, where families, students, older adults and other patrons rely on a predictable sense of safety.

Eugene police said the disturbance began at 1:10 p.m. on June 5, when a disorderly man was reported swinging a knife and yelling inside the library. A librarian went to the second floor to check on the commotion. By the time the librarian arrived, police said, the man had put the knife away, though he was still yelling. The librarian asked him to leave and he complied.

An unknown female patron was nearby during the episode. Police later said she may have been a victim of menacing, but she had not been identified. The incident was reported to Eugene police the next day, after a video of the encounter began circulating on social media. Investigators logged the case as 26-08538 and asked the public for help identifying the man.

Police said multiple community members and the Springfield Police Department helped identify and locate the suspect. Officers arrested Jarrod Brennen Adesso at about 6:19 p.m. on June 12 and booked him into Lane County Jail on a disorderly conduct charge. Police also said no victims of potential menacing had come forward by then.

For the library, the incident underscored how quickly a tense confrontation can move through a shared civic space and how much depends on staff, patrons and police response. Eugene Public Library says its rules are intended to protect the rights and safety of visitors and staff, preserve materials and facilities, and maintain a shared environment. Those rules apply to all three branches, Downtown, Bethel and Sheldon, along with the sidewalks and surrounding areas.

The library also says its policies are shaped to best serve the public, with community input, City of Eugene policy, professional guidelines and principles endorsed by the American Library Association all part of the process. In a city where the main library serves as both a study hall and a daytime refuge, the arrest closes one chapter, but the broader question of safety in public spaces remains front and center.