2 critically injured in random shooting near Harvard; suspect identified
Two men are critically injured after a gunman opened fire on traffic near Harvard University in Cambridge, Massachusetts, striking several vehicles before he was shot by a state trooper and an armed civilian, according to officials.
The shooting happened at about 1:30 p.m. Monday on Memorial Drive near River Street, about a block from Harvard. Middlesex District Attorney Marian Ryan said the gunman appeared to fire at random as people ran from cars and tried to hide.
The suspect was identified as Tyler Brown of Boston. Ryan said Brown is in custody at a hospital, where he is being treated in the intensive care unit for gunshot wounds to his extremities.
Cambridge police were first alerted at about 1:06 p.m. after Boston police reported that Brown had been seen acting erratically and was believed to be in Cambridge with a rifle. Massachusetts State Police and Cambridge police began responding to the area.
By the time officers arrived, Brown was walking down the middle of Memorial Drive with an assault-style rifle and firing erratically at vehicles stopped in traffic.
“In the course of doing that, two males in vehicles separately were struck by gunfire,” Ryan said.
Both victims were taken to Boston hospitals with life-threatening injuries. One of the men was inside a ride-type vehicle, while the other was inside his personal sedan, Ryan said.
“There is no reason to suggest that there’s any connection between this individual and any of the people who were in those cars that were struck,” Ryan said.
A Massachusetts state trooper and a civilian who is a former Marine and licensed to carry a firearm moved toward Brown as he continued firing, Ryan said. The state police cruiser the trooper had arrived in was also struck by gunfire.
“Both that trooper and that civilian went toward the suspect with their weapons to try to end that situation,” Ryan said.
Both the trooper and the civilian fired, striking Brown multiple times in the extremities. Ryan said the same officers who had tried to stop the shooting treated him at the scene before he was taken to a Boston hospital.
Ryan said about 50 to 60 rounds were fired in a short period of time. The shooting lasted only minutes, which Ryan attributed to the actions of the trooper and the armed civilian.
“This incident occurred in a very busy part of the afternoon with lots of people there,” Ryan said. “Clearly, people’s lives were put at risk.”
At least a dozen vehicles appeared to have been damaged by gunfire, including the state police cruiser and a mail truck whose windshield was struck. The scene stretched from the intersection of River Street and Memorial Drive down past a Harvard-owned building along the Charles River.
Ryan said some people were found hiding under cars after the shooting. She said the rifle had enough range to strike people across the river.
Brown is expected to be charged with two counts of armed assault with intent to murder, firearms offenses and other charges, according to Ryan. She said Brown was apparently under supervision by either the Massachusetts probation department or the state parole department.
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