{"id":27893,"date":"2026-05-12T22:18:22","date_gmt":"2026-05-12T22:18:22","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/news\/27893\/"},"modified":"2026-05-12T22:18:22","modified_gmt":"2026-05-12T22:18:22","slug":"rifle-wielding-maniac-was-free-to-go-on-rampage-thanks-to-sweetheart-sentence","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/news\/27893\/","title":{"rendered":"Rifle-wielding maniac was free to go on rampage thanks to sweetheart sentence"},"content":{"rendered":"

Massachusetts prosecutors scolded a judge over the sweetheart deal she handed to serial criminal Tyler Brown \u2014 who is accused of opening fire on random drivers<\/a> on Monday \u2014 after he was convicted of trying to kill a cop years earlier.<\/p>\n

Brown, 46, pleaded guilty to armed assault with intent to murder in 2021, one year after he fired 13 rounds at Boston officers, including firing a .40 Glock semi-automatic at close range at one officer\u2019s chest.<\/p>\n

Prosecutors recommended a 12-year prison sentence followed by five years of probation; however, Judge Janet Sanders handed out a five- to six-year sentence with three years of probation \u2014 despite the fact that Brown was already on probation for a 2014 assault conviction at the time.<\/p>\n

Tyler Brown allegedly fired between 50 and 60 rounds during his crazed rampage in Cambridge, Massachusetts, Monday. Witness Video\/CBS<\/p>\n

The decision angered the district attorney, who apologized to the officers and blasted the attack as \u201cbrazen.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cI am disappointed in the sentence that was imposed,\u201d Rachael Rollins, the then-Suffolk County district attorney, said<\/a>.<\/p>\n

\u201cMembers of law enforcement put their lives at risk every day to protect us. They serve us, \u200bat times being unfairly criticized for \u200bacts committed by officers a thousand miles away felt \u200band witnessed around the globe.<\/p>\n

\u201cViolence will not be condoned in Suffolk County. Whether that violence is committed \u200bby or against a domestic partner, a stranger, a loved one, \u200ba family member, a spouse, an acquaintance, a police officer, a suspect, anyone, we will hold the perpetrator \u200bof the violence accountable\u200b and advocate on behalf of the victim. \u200b\u200b<\/p>\n

\u201cThis sentence doesn\u2019t do that, and I want to \u200bpersonally apologize to \u200beach of the\u200bse officers and their families.\u00a0 I strongly believe that the sentence we proposed \u2014 10 to 12 years followed by five years of probation \u2014 was appropriate for the level of brazen violence committed.\u201d<\/p>\n

Brown pleaded guilty to eight charges in total.<\/p>\n

Judge Janet Sanders was criticized over the sentence she handed to Brown in 2021. Boston Globe via Getty Images<\/p>\n

The serial perp opened fire on Boston cops in May 2020 after they responded to reports of a gunman threatening people.<\/p>\n

Neither officer was injured despite Brown aiming at an officer\u2019s chest from close range.<\/p>\n

A cop caught up in the attack said in a victim statement, \u201cI am a firm believer that when Mr. Tyler Brown gets out, he will hurt, or worse, kill someone,\u201d NBC10 reported<\/a>.<\/p>\n

Brown had only been out of prison since January, William Gross, the Boston police commissioner, told reporters following Monday\u2019s erratic rampage in Cambridge.\u00a0<\/p>\n

Brown allegedly fired between 50 and 60 shots at cars on Memorial Drive, leaving two men critically injured.<\/p>\n

Driver Brandon Mansolf\u00a0told WBZ-TV <\/a>that he stopped his car and crouched inside it when bullets suddenly struck his radiator and his co-worker\u2019s headlight in front of him.<\/p>\n

\u201cGot out, walked up to the car in front of me to my co-worker to see what was going on. Saw the dude in the street lifting [the gun] up at me,\u201d the witness recalled.<\/p>\n

Brown was struck by gunfire after allegedly firing indiscriminately.<\/p>\n

\u201cI dipped back into my car and ducked behind my dashboard. My buddy got out; he ran for it. State trooper pulled up directly on the side of me, got out, got behind his car right in front of my driver\u2019s side mirror, got in the gunfight with him.\u201d<\/p>\n

Mansolf said there was \u201cblood everywhere\u201d with shell casings strewn across the road, while witness Joseph Minino-Rodriguez compared the barrage to a \u201cvideo game.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cHe\u2019s like mad. He\u2019s frustrated. I don\u2019t know what happened. I don\u2019t know what\u2019s going on with him,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n

Another rattled witness, Todd Czubek. told CBS<\/a> Brown was \u201cshooting randomly, up in the air, spraying the area.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cHe\u2019s shooting all over the place, goes into the road, all the cars are stopped both ways and he\u2019s just shooting,\u201d he added.<\/p>\n

\u201cPeople started to get out of their vehicles and run, including me.\u201d<\/p>\n

Brown was hit several times after being confronted by a Massachusetts state cop and a Marine who was licensed to carry a firearm.<\/p>\n

He was hospitalized and is awaiting arraignment.<\/p>\n

Marian Ryan, the Middlesex County district attorney, said he\u2019s expected to be charged with two counts of armed assault with intent to murder.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Massachusetts prosecutors scolded a judge over the sweetheart deal she handed to serial criminal Tyler Brown \u2014 who…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":27894,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[4],"tags":[434,8,1784,9,436,7,1250],"class_list":{"0":"post-27893","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-top-stories","8":"tag-crime","9":"tag-headlines","10":"tag-massachusetts","11":"tag-news","12":"tag-shootings","13":"tag-top-stories","14":"tag-us-news"},"share_on_mastodon":{"url":"https:\/\/pubeurope.com\/@news\/116563928841879018","error":""},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/27893","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=27893"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/27893\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/27894"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=27893"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=27893"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=27893"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}