Photo Credit: Boston Police Patrolmen’s Association/X
CAMBRIDGE — The Boston man accused of firing dozens of rounds from an assault-style rifle along Memorial Drive Monday, had been released from McLean Hospital in Belmont three days earlier, according to a state police report cited by WBUR.
Tyler E. Brown, 46, is accused of opening fire at vehicles and passersby just after 1:00 p.m. on Monday, May 11, along Memorial Drive in Cambridge. Middlesex District Attorney Marian Ryan said two men in separate cars were seriously wounded before Brown was shot in the extremities by a Massachusetts State Police trooper and a civilian who intervened.
According to the Massachusetts Department of Correction, Brown had been released from prison in May 2025 to serve the remainder of his sentence under parole supervision. Less than two hours before the shooting on Monday, a parole officer contacted Boston police and reported that Brown, who was a known crack user, had relapsed, and was making suicidal statements.
WBUR reported that on Monday morning, a man who lived in the same rooming house as Brown told a parole officer that Brown had been drinking and using drugs the night before and was “off his rocker.”
The parole officer first reached Brown by phone at 12:08 p.m. and later spoke with him over FaceTime, where Brown allegedly swung a semi-automatic rifle around in the kitchen and said he was “not going back to prison.” Brown, who had a drug screen scheduled that day, also allegedly told the parole officer that he had committed other murders in the past, “some that he didn’t get caught for,” according to a police report cited by WBUR.
Brown’s arraignment, which had been expected Wednesday, was delayed because he had not been medically cleared, WCVB reported. He is expected to face charges Thursday, including two counts of armed assault with intent to murder and firearm-related offenses.
One of the men wounded in the shooting was an MBTA Ride Services driver whose family identified him as Felix. WCVB reported that Felix, a husband and father of eight, drove himself to the hospital after being shot and is now recovering.
The case has also renewed scrutiny of Brown’s prior sentence in Suffolk County.
According to the Suffolk County District Attorney’s Office, Brown pleaded guilty in August 2021 to eight charges stemming from a 2020 incident in which he attempted to shoot and kill a Boston police officer, including armed assault with intent to murder, attempted assault and battery by means of discharging a firearm, three counts of assault with a dangerous weapon for pointing a firearm at additional responding Boston police officers, unlawful possession of a firearm as a subsequent offense, carrying a loaded firearm, and possession of a large-capacity feeding device.
On May 16, 2020, Boston police responded to a report of a man with a gun near Northampton Street and located Brown on Massachusetts Avenue. When officers tried to speak with him, Brown allegedly threw a bag he was carrying at one officer and fled.
The officers chased Brown to Chester Park, where the Suffolk County District Attorney’s Office said he turned and fired a .40-caliber Glock semi-automatic pistol at close range at an officer’s chest, the officer dove for cover and narrowly missed being struck by the bullets. Brown allegedly continued to shoot at the officers, firing 13 rounds in total before two officers returned fire. No officers or civilians were shot.
Prosecutors recommended that Brown be sentenced to 10 to 12 years in state prison followed by five years of probation. Suffolk Superior Court Judge Janet Sanders imposed a sentence of five to six years in state prison followed by three years of probation, during which Brown was required to undergo a mental health evaluation and treatment.
The Suffolk County District Attorney’s Office reported that, at the time of the 2020 shooting, Brown was already on probation for a 2014 conviction for assault and battery with a dangerous weapon (knife) and witness intimidation. He was sentenced to four to five years in state prison for violating probation, but that sentence was ordered to run concurrently with the sentence imposed in the 2020 police shooting case.
In response to Monday’s shooting, the Boston Police Patrolmen’s Association said on X, formerly Twitter, that the judicial system “dropped the ball” by showing leniency to Brown in his prior case, calling it “an undeniable insult” to police officers.
