Middlesex District Attorney Marian Ryan’s office is prosecuting Tyler Brown in connection with the Cambridge shooting on Memorial Drive in the middle of the day Monday. Brown has an extensive criminal history. 25 Investigates was the first to report that history, including a 2020 incident in Boston after which Brown was convicted of firing several rounds at police. A judge sentenced him to five to six years in prison in that case, but he served less time. The Suffolk County district attorney at the time, Rachael Rollins, recommended 10 to 12 years.
He is now accused in Monday’s active shooting in which he’s accused of firing off 50-60 rounds.
Boston 25’s Kerry Kavanaugh asked Ryan about the lesser sentence and ultimate parole. She told Kavanaugh there are still unanswered questions.
“Well, I think there are some hard questions that are going to have to be answered about exactly what happened in that case. And that’s all part of the investigation as we are unfolding through this, figuring out we know what the sentence was, when the release was, what the conditions were, what kind of compliance was happening with that.”
Asked whether she has concerns based on what she knows so far, Ryan said:
“Well, we know that the sentence that this individual received was significantly less than what was recommended. I don’t have access to all of the information that the judge had before him or her at that point, but we do know he was back out on the street and we had the incident that happened yesterday. So, there are hard questions to be answered about this.”
Ryan has been advocating for over several sessions that would impose stronger penalties for people who fire guns indiscriminately, whether anyone is hit. An Act Relative to the Reckless Discharge of firearms would close a loophole in existing law that required proof that the shooter intended to commit a battery, i.e., targeted the person injured by the shooting.
“So, we first filed this legislation in 2019 in response to an eerily similar incident that occurred also in Memorial Drive in November of 2018. And in that case, we had individuals who had some kind of disagreement and they were literally traveling along Memorial Drive roughly the same time as yesterday. When schools and daycares were being dismissed and shooting.”
She said Massachusetts gun laws are strict, but this proposal would address a remaining gap.
“The laws in Massachusetts around guns are strict. They are effective, and that is why our gun deaths are so low, but this piece of legislation was filed to address a gap, which is when somebody intentionally fires without disregard for the risk that they are creating. We obviously have statutes to punish if someone hits somebody, but just that random firing in a situation where because of the nature of the place or the crowds, they’re creating a grave danger. We don’t effectively address that.”
Right now, prosecutors have to prove that they were intending to hurt somebody and that they aimed at somebody.
“Obviously, it’s dangerous if you’re walking down the street and you’re just shooting and people may be in their homes. You may not be a specific person, but you’re creating that risk. If someone comes out of a door or drives by in a car, this is what that would address,” Ryan told Kavanaugh.
Asked how the proposed law could affect the current Cambridge prosecution, Ryan said it would expand the available charges.
“Well, it would increase the charges we would have. Obviously, we have charges in this case for the two individuals who were hit, the assault on the civilian and the officer who were attempting to end that. But there were many, many more people in their cars who fortunately were not struck, but were put in very grave danger, as well as the people walking and running and rowing along the river.”
Ryan called the outcome of Wednesday’s incident fortunate as there was no loss of life.
“Truly remarkable that nobody was killed. Unbelievably fortunate,” she said.
Download the FREE Boston 25 News app for breaking news alerts.
Follow Boston 25 News on Facebook and Twitter. | Watch Boston 25 News NOW
©2026 Cox Media Group
/cloudfront-us-east-1.images.arcpublishing.com/cmg/7QOJU3BNCJERBNKJC5LWTBYFLU.png)
