The alleged shooter who opened fire on Memorial Drive in Cambridge and left two people with life-threatening injuries pleaded not guilty from his hospital bed during his arraignment on Thursday in Cambridge District Court.
Tyler Brown, a man who was described as in the process of moving to Boston, has been charged with two counts of assault to murder, two counts of attempted assault and battery with a firearm and gun and ammunition charges.
The pleas of not guilty were entered on his behalf as he remain hospitalized after being shot multiple times “in his extremities” during the incident.
Brown is accused of a shooting Monday afternoon, firing roughly 60 rounds erratically into cars and striking two bystanders who were sitting in their vehicles on Memorial Drive, according to the report.
Both men who were allegedly struck by Brown were critically wounded and are currently hospitalized. One of the victims included a driver for MBTA’s The Ride services.
In 2020, Brown was arrested after firing several rounds at Boston police officers, according to the Suffolk County District Attorney’s office. The Associated Press reported that prosecutors at the time said 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. Suffolk Superior Court Judge Janet Sanders 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.
The judge’s decision sparked criticism among local officials concerned that violent offenders weren’t being held accountable, the AP reported. Those same concerns returned after Monday’s shooting.
Larry Calderone, president of the Boston Police Patrolman’s Association, told GBH News that “as police officer, you can’t understand how a guy that was in a gun battle with police officers five years ago is walking around the city of Boston, or over the bridge into Cambridge, once again with a firearm, having the ability to hurt or kill someone else. It just should never happen.”
“Clearly, there needs to be a sharpening in the judicial system where individuals that are shooting at police officers should not be allowed to walk around the general public and have a second opportunity to shoot a police officer or a civilian population. So that needs to be looked at,” he said.
Release from psychiatric hospital
Three days before the incident, Brown had been released from a psychiatric hospital, according to a state police report.
Brown also reportedly made threats of self-harm and displayed a weapon during a Facetime call with his parole officer hours before the incident, according to a police report. He had reportedly been using crack cocaine.
The probation officer called 911 to request a welfare check on Brown at his home in Dorchester, but he was not home when police arrived.
Using Brown’s cellphone, police traced his location to Cambridge. Reports of gunfire on Memorial Drive began coming in around 1:30 p.m.
The shooting was stopped when Brown was confronted by a state police trooper and a former Marine licensed to carry a firearm, according to the police report.
Cambridge District Court Judge David Frank said the Commonwealth “established sufficient probable cause.”
Frank also ordered that Brown be detailed until his next hearing on May 21.
