Photo: Getty Images
The gunman who allegedly fired upon traffic on Memorial Drive in Cambridge, Massachusetts, on Monday (May 11) has been identified by Boston police as 46-year-old Tyler Brown.
Brown reportedly fired dozens of rounds into traffic near Harvard University with an assault rifle, inflicting life-threatening injuries on at least two people in separate cars, according to CBS News.
He was shot and wounded by a state trooper before being taken into custody. Middlesex District Attorney Marian Ryan confirmed to CBS that Brown is in an intensive care unit.
“We know that that weapon had the capacity to have struck people on the other side of that river,” Ryan said during a news conference. “This incident lasted minutes thanks to the actions of the trooper and that civilian.”
Brown had an extensive criminal history prior to the shooting.
He was convicted in 2008 for cocaine distribution, and again in 2014 for assault and battery with a knife and witness intimidation, per CBS.
While on probation for the 2014 conviction, he was arrested again in 2020 for attempting to shoot several Boston Police officers in broad daylight. He pleaded guilty to eight charges, including armed assault with intent to murder and attempted assault and battery by means of discharging a firearm.
Judges sentenced him to 5-6 years in state prison followed by probation in 2021, and ordered him to undergo mental health treatment.
At the time, the then-Suffolk County District Attorney Rachael Rollins expressed disappointment with the sentence, stating she wanted 10 to 12 years instead.
“I strongly believe that the sentence we proposed - 10 to 12 years followed by five years of probation - was appropriate for the level of brazen violence committed,” she said in a statement. “Of equal concern is the imposition of concurrent sentences for a prior and separate violent assault on a different member of our community.”
Brown ultimately served about three and a half years in prison and was released on May 21, 2025.
The Black Information Network is your source for Black News! Get the latest news 24/7 on The Black Information Network. Listen now on the iHeartRadio app or click HERE to tune in live.