BOSTON — A man previously convicted of firing a gun at police shot randomly at motorists on a busy road outside Boston, seriously wounding two drivers with an assault-style weapon and sending others scrambling before a state trooper returned fire with a Marine veteran who pulled over, authorities said Tuesday.
Bullets tore through at least a dozen cars, including a state police cruiser, in the Monday afternoon attack as panicked drivers abandoned their vehicles or hid beneath them for cover, prosecutors and state police said.
The gunman fired more than 60 rounds as he walked beside the road before he was shot and fell to the ground, according to authorities. They said the two wounded motorists were hospitalized with life-threatening injuries.
The shooting happened on a heavily traveled road along the Charles River in Cambridge, home to Harvard University and the Massachusetts Institute of Technology. Sidewalks and riverside paths in the area are often crowded with pedestrians, joggers and cyclists.
“While people were jumping from their cars, scattering in various directions … both that trooper and that civilian, rather than going in one direction, went toward the suspect with their weapons to try to end that situation,” Middlesex District Attorney Marian Ryan said at a news conference Monday night.
The suspect, Tyler Brown, 46, of Boston, faces two counts of armed assault with intent to murder and six other charges, including possessing a gun without a license. Court documents show Brown had been released from a psychiatric hospital Friday.
About an hour before the shootings, he connected with his parole officer via video conference on Monday. Armed with a gun, he said on video that he had relapsed and wanted to end his life. The parole officer called police, who began searching for Brown and found him in Cambridge using phone records.
Witnesses describe chaotic scene
Armando Zona, whose apartment overlooks the scene, initially thought he was hearing construction equipment when banging noises started. But when he went onto his balcony to check, he saw the gunman firing at cars as he strode down the street.
“He took a glance towards here, I'm quite sure about that, and I ran," he said. As Zona yelled to his wife to hide in the bathroom, he heard another bang.
“I turned around, I see the window splattered,” he said. “I could not comprehend, how can this be? This is a bullet that just came into my house.”
Rachael Saveriano said she was trapped in her car when she saw Brown walking toward her, waving his gun. A man later described as Marine veteran helped her escape, she told The Boston Globe.
“It doesn’t feel like you should get out of the car when there is a shooter coming toward you, but there was a man next to me,” she said. “He opened my car door, pulled me out, and told me to run. He made a barricade with the door and I just started running.”
Saveriano said she saw the man shooting at Brown before she ran into a nearby hotel.
“He is an incredible hero,” she said. “He was so calm, and he didn’t hesitate.”
The Marine veteran told investigators he had been driving southbound when he saw cars turning around and heard shots. A former firearms instructor, he retrieved his pistol from a safe in his backseat, and after the gunman got closer, fired eight rounds, according to a criminal complaint.
Court documents include criminal history, mental health issues
The complaint also describes what led up to the shootings. According to investigators, Brown had been diagnosed with post-traumatic stress disorder, anxiety and depression and had been released from a psychiatric hospital Friday.
According to the complaint, Brown is on parole and probation for offenses including armed assault to murder and other gun-related convictions. His parole was set to end this week, though his probation continued.
In 2020, Brown was arrested after firing several rounds at Boston police officers, according to the Suffolk County District Attorney's Office. Prosecutors said then that he should serve at least 10 years in prison, due to the “level of brazen violence” and because he was on probation for a 2014 conviction on assault and witness intimidation charges. A judge instead ordered Brown to serve five to six years in state prison and three years of probation with credit for the nearly 18 months he’d spent in custody.
At the time, the judge’s decision sparked outrage and criticism among local officials concerned that violent offenders weren’t being held accountable. Those same concerns returned after Monday’s shooting.
“Talk about a ball drop,” said the Boston Police Patrolmen's Association in a statement on social media. “The fact that the judicial system thought it was prudent to show leniency to a wannabe cop killer 5-years ago is not only the definition of insanity but an undeniable insult to those who put their lives on the line everyday.”
No connection found between shooter, victims
Ryan, the district attorney, said investigators found no connection between Brown and those targeted Monday. She renewed her call for harsher penalties on people who fire weapons disregarding the risk of serious injury.
“What happened today cannot stand,” she said.
Brown was not medically ready to go to court for an arraignment, the Cambridge District Court said Tuesday. The Committee for Public Counsel Services confirmed it has been appointed to defend him but declined to comment. A message was also left at a phone number listed for Brown and a potential family member.
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Ramer reported from Concord, New Hampshire. Kruesi reported from Providence, Rhode Island.
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