A gun-wielding lunatic opened fire on a busy road in Cambridge, Massachusetts, a terrifying incident that left two people with life-threatening injuries.
A normal early Monday afternoon was shattered by unexpected violence when the gunman, who has been identified as 46-year-old Tyler Brown, began shooting at cars with an “assault style” weapon as he was walking down the street, getting off between 50 and 60 shots, according to authorities.
Law enforcement officers responded to the scene and got into a shootout with the suspect, who was taken into custody after being wounded in the exchange of gunfire with a state trooper and a former Marine.
The incident went down on Memorial Drive, close to Harvard University. There was no threat to the campus.
(Video Credit: CBS Boston)
“This incident lasted minutes thanks to the actions of the trooper and that civilian,” Middlesex District Attorney Marian Ryan said at a Monday news briefing.
“In the course of doing that, two males in vehicles separately were struck by gunfire,” she said.
Witnesses described the harrowing scene.
“A guy holding a rifle, a semi-automatic rifle… I ran. He just started shooting out of nowhere, and he shot a lot,” Dennis Rodriguez, who worked at a nearby Mobil, said, according to Boston 25 News. “The guy who was shooting, they shot him down over there.”
Another witness likened the incident to the popular video game “Grand Theft Auto.”
“He got into a gunfight with the cops. I was on the phone with 911,” the person said. “Once he got in that gunfight, that’s when he got dropped.”
‘AT LEAST 30 SHOTS’: A witness describes the horrifying scene along Memorial Drive in Cambridge, where law enforcement and a rifle-wielding suspect were involved in a daylight shootout. pic.twitter.com/E1sICL8gHv
— Boston 25 News (@boston25) May 11, 2026
It was soon reported that Brown had a history of such conduct, firing at Boston police officers in May 2020 and later pleading guilty to attempted murder in 2021. At the time of the shooting, Brown was on probation for an earlier conviction from 2014, assault and battery with a dangerous weapon, and intimidation of a witness.
He is a longtime criminal with an extensive rap sheet who probably should have been locked up, but thanks to a sweetheart deal, could have killed numerous people during his Monday shooting spree had he not been stopped.
A Suffolk County judge declined to give Brown the 10-12 years in prison that the district attorney wanted, instead giving him only a 5 to 6 year sentence, from which he was released on probation after only a few years.
“My office recommended a significant sentence for Mr. Brown, given the nature of his offenses and the trauma and harm he inflicted. I am disappointed in the sentence that was imposed,” Suffolk County District Attorney Rachael Rollins said in a 2021 statement, according to the Daily Mail.
“This sentence doesn’t do that, and I want to personally apologize to each of these officers and their families. 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,” Rollins added.
Brown is expected to face multiple charges for the Monday incident.
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