An armed man walking around Memorial Drive near the intersection of River Street and behaving “erratically” fired up to 60 rounds from an assault-style weapon over several minutes, hitting two men in separate vehicles, both sustaining what were described by law enforcement officials as “life-threatening” injuries.
Officials said the shooter, identified by police as Tyler Brown, 46, was then confronted by a Massachusetts State Police trooper and an armed citizen, a former marine, who fired their weapons, inflicting multiple gunshot wounds to Brown’s extremities. The citizen was carrying a legal firearm.
The two injured drivers, one of whom was driving a vehicle operated by the Massachusetts Bay Transit Authority The RIDE program, were taken to hospitals in Boston. Brown is also being treated at a Boston hospital.
At a press conference at Cambridge Police headquarters Monday evening, law enforcement officials from several agencies discussed the shooting incident’s timeline. Cambridge Police received a 911 call from Boston Police at 1:06 pm on Monday, reporting an individual “acting erratically” and potentially carrying a rifle, Middlesex District Attorney Marian Ryan confirmed. By the time Cambridge police arrived on scene, there was already an active shooter.
Brown was carrying an assault-style weapon and fired 50 to 60 rounds of bullets, according to an audio recording captured by a resident and provided to the authorities, some of which was played at the event. The incident lasted “minutes,” Ryan confirmed.
“Today we saw in a moment of crisis, we saw highly trained, highly prepared troopers or police officers responding to a very dangerous incident,” said Colonel Jeffrey Noble of the Massachusetts State Police.
There were hundreds of witnesses to the incident that will be interviewed in the coming days, Ryan said. She said Brown will be charged with two counts of armed assault with intent to murder, as well as other charges. A date for Brown’s arraignment has not been set, as his medical condition is assessed. Brown was under the supervision of parole at the time of the incident and it was his parole officer who initially contacted Boston police and gave information about his whereabouts via a tracking device Brown was wearing.
Cambridge’s acting police commissioner Pauline Wells came from the press conference to the Cambridge City Council meeting and gave an update, saying that the gunman fired at vehicles on the roadway.
“I cannot believe that more people were not hurt in this incident,” Wells told the councillors.
She noted the citizen who fired at the gunman was a legal firearm owner.
Memorial Drive is under concurrent jurisdiction of city of Cambridge and the state police, but is mostly policed by State troopers, who are leading the police side of the investigation. Wells said about 30 Cambridge police officers ended up at the scene.
At least a dozen marked and unmarked State Police vehicles responded, and Boston Police closed off access to Cambridge from Storrow Drive and the Mass Pike at approximately 1:30 p.m. on Monday afternoon. Memorial Drive in the area reopened to traffic at about 10:10 p.m. Monday evening.
Officials said the investigation is ongoing on the part of the Middlesex District Attorney’s Office, Massachusetts State Police and Cambridge Police. People with information or video were asked to call State Police Detectives at 781-897-6600.
Cambridge Day will update this story as more information is available.
This story was updated to correct who was on which side of Middlesex District Attorney Marian Ryan in a photo and that the shooter was taken to a hospital in Boston. It also added planned charges for the shooter. The story was also updated to note that Memorial Drive was re-opened to traffic soon after 10 p.m.
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