The man charged with randomly shooting at passersby in Massachusetts on Monday previously received a light sentence for violent behavior despite a prosecutor’s warning.
Former Superior Court Judge Janet Sanders gave repeat offender Tyler Brown five to six years in prison and three years of probation in 2021 for shooting at a Boston cop, drawing criticism from former Democratic Suffolk County District Attorney Rachael Rollins, multiple reports show. Police arrested Brown for at least the third time on Monday after he allegedly shot at Cambridge drivers and left two people with life-threatening injuries.
It was not immediately clear if Brown had an attorney. He is now charged with armed assault with intent to murder and multiple gun offenses.
Boston police encountered Brown in 2020 when they found him with a handgun in public while appearing “emotionally disturbed,” the district attorney’s office said. He shot at an officer who followed him at close range, narrowly missing and starting a gunfight with police. Brown fired 13 total shots before officers arrested him.
Brown pleaded guilty to eight charges, including armed attempted murder. He was on probation at the time of the 2020 shooting after being convicted in 2014 of assault and battery with a knife and witness intimidation. Former District Attorney Rollins asked Judge Sanders to give Brown a “significant” punishment of 10 to 12 years behind bars — despite her leniency on some criminal justice issues that earned liberal reform advocates‘ praise.
“I am disappointed in the sentence that was imposed,” Rollins said after Sanders’ five-to-six-year sentence. “Members of law enforcement put their lives at risk every day to protect us. They serve us, at times being unfairly criticized for acts committed by officers a thousand miles away felt and witnessed around the globe. Violence will not be condoned in Suffolk County.”
“Whether that violence is committed by or against a domestic partner, a stranger, a loved one, a family member, a spouse, an acquaintance, a police officer, a suspect, anyone, we will hold the perpetrator of the violence accountable and advocate on behalf of the victim,” Rollins said. “This sentence doesn’t do that, and I want to personally apologize to each of these officers and their families. I strongly believe that the sentence we proposed – 10 to 12 years followed by five years of probation – was appropriate for the level of brazen violence committed.”
Former Republican Massachusetts Gov. Jane Swift appointed Sanders to the state’s Superior Court in 2001 before Sanders retired as a judge in 2023 to work for a dispute resolution firm, her professional profiles show. The firm did not respond to an inquiry from the Daily Caller News Foundation attempting to reach Sanders. Rollins did not respond to a request for comment.
Footage from Monday allegedly shows Brown firing numerous shots from a rifle while standing in the street. The gunman was injured when a Massachusetts state trooper and a civilian legally carrying a gun both shot back, Cambridge police said. Police transported him to a Boston hospital.
Former Boston Police Commissioner William Gross called attention to Brown’s pattern of soft sentencing after his 2020 arrest, noting he was freed from prison for the battery and witness intimidation case four months earlier, CBS News reported.
“Folks, we need to think about that when it comes to voting time and about who’s releasing violent offenders from jail,” he reportedly said.
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