The man accused of firing at cars along Memorial Drive in Cambridge, Massachusetts on Monday afternoon is 46-year-old Tyler Brown from Boston. Brown was shot and injured by a State Police trooper and a civilian before being arrested.
Two people in different vehicles were hit by the gunfire and rushed to hospitals in Boston with serious injuries.
Brown has a long history with law enforcement. His criminal record goes back to 2008 when he was convicted for distributing cocaine. In 2020, he faced charges for trying to kill Boston police officers.
Back then, Brown pleaded guilty to eight counts including armed assault with intent to murder and attempted assault and battery by shooting at a Boston police officer.
Tyler Brown, 46, of Boston.
CBS Boston
Sources from the I-Team say that a photo of Tyler Brown was shared in an officer safety alert sent out Monday morning in Boston. Around 12:30 PM that day, Boston Police tried checking on him at his Dorchester home after his parole officer told them Brown made suicidal remarks.
He was also reportedly seen holding an assault rifle during a Face Time call where he threatened to use it. The alert noted his phone was showing up in Cambridge.
Soon after the alert went out, witnesses caught videos of Brown on Memorial Drive. He’s seen walking right down the street’s center lane, frightening drivers while waving and firing a long gun. People said he shot both at passing cars and into the air before getting shot himself and taken into custody.
A still frame from witness video showing a gunman on Memorial Drive in Cambridge, Massachusetts.
CBS Boston
Middlesex District Attorney Marian Ryan mentioned that Brown is now held in an intensive care unit at a hospital.
When he committed the armed assault back in 2020, Brown was already on probation because of a 2014 conviction involving assault with a knife plus witness intimidation. In 2021 he got sentenced to five or six years behind bars followed by probation. They also ordered him to get mental health checkups and treatment.
Rachael Rollins-who served as Suffolk County DA then-had pushed for a sentence between ten to twelve years and expressed disappointment over what actually happened.
“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. Of equal concern is the imposition of concurrent sentences for a prior and separate violent assault on a different member of our community,” Rollins said in August 2021.
Brown ended up serving roughly three-and-a-half years after sentencing before getting released from prison on May 21, 2025.
