A man who allegedly brought a butcher knife to Cottage Grove Elementary School on Tuesday, causing the school to go into a brief lockdown, had four other large knives in his pickup, according to a criminal complaint filed Thursday in Washington County District Court.
Touyer Yang (Courtesy of the Washington County Sheriff’s Office)
Touyer Yang, 46, of Cottage Grove, faces three felony charges in connection with the incident: possession of a dangerous weapon on school property, threats of violence and first-degree damage to property.
Yang, driving a black pickup, allegedly came to the school just before noon on Tuesday. Employees at the school said Yang was spotted “driving erratically around the parking lot,” according to the criminal complaint. After he exited his truck, which he left running, Yang “walked into the vestibule and had a knife in his hand,” the complaint states. “(He) was waving the knife around and yelling.”
An employee told investigators there were several children in the common area just beyond the doors where Yang was located. She brought five children into her classroom, and another employee took the rest of the children to another part of the building, according to the complaint.
“Several children saw (Yang) with the knife and were very afraid,” the complaint states.
Multiple marks were found on the doors and windows where Yang struck them with his knife; the cost of repairs will exceed $1,000, officials said.
Three other large knives were found in the driver’s door pocket of Yang’s truck, and a large kitchen knife was in the passenger’s door pocket, according to the complaint.
Yang’s eyes were bloodshot, watery and glossy, and an officer could smell a strong odor of consumed alcoholic beverage coming from him, the complaint states. He also was swaying, according to the complaint.
Yang later admitted several times to drinking and going to the school, the complaint states.
Yang is being held at the Washington County Jail in Stillwater.
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