By Dave Workman
A legally armed private citizen, described by the media as a Marine Corps veteran, played a key role in stopping a shooting rampage Monday in Cambridge, Massachusetts.
The actions of the unidentified armed citizen are being hailed by a leading gun rights organization. The Citizens Committee for the Right to Keep and Bear Arms is applauding the armed citizen’s actions.
According to various news agencies, including WCVB, the suspect in this case is identified as 46-year-old Tyler Brown of Boston. There is no known motive for the rampage. Two shooting victims were taken to a local hospital with life-threatening wounds, according to reports.
The shooting erupted at about 1 p.m. Monday along a busy Cambridge street, where the suspect unleashed a volley of rounds at passing motorists. He was armed with what is described as an “assault-style weapon,” which, as a convicted felon who is reportedly on supervised probation, he could not legally possess.
WHDH News is reporting that the suspect served time in prison for having opened fire at a Boston police officer in 2020. In 2021, Brown was sentenced to six years in state prison followed by three years of probation.
When the shooting started Monday, at least two people were seriously wounded. Reports say between 50 and 60 rounds were fired before the armed citizen and a state trooper returned fire, bringing the suspect down. The incident was captured on video.
Middlesex District Attorney Marian Ryan told reporters that the suspect was hit several times as the trooper and armed citizen both returned fire.
WBTS News interviewed one woman who said on camera the armed citizen saved her life. That woman, identified as Rachel Saveriano, said the armed citizen opened her car door, telling her to run, which she did. She credited the former Marine for saving her life, and she referred to him as a “hero.”
This is not the first time an armed citizen has intervened in a deadly situation, saving many lives in the process while stopping would-be mass shooters.
In July 2022, then-22-year-old Elisjsha Dicken drew his pistol after a gunman opened fire at the Greenwood Park Mall in Greenwood, Indiana. Two people were fatally wounded before Dicken, firing across the food court, struck the shooter several times, killing him.
Also in 2022, in Charleston, W. Va., an armed female bystander fatally shot a man identified as Dennis Butler, with a lengthy criminal history, who had opened fire on people attending a birthday party.
In December 2019, an armed volunteer security team member, Jack Wilson, fatally shot a man who had opened fire during services at the West Freeway Church of Christ in White Settlement, Texas. Two people were killed before Wilson, firing across the distance of the sanctuary, fatally shot the gunman. It was all captured on video because the service was being streamed live.
In July 2018, an armed citizen fatally shot a carjacker in the parking lot of a Walmart in Tumwater, Washington. The gunman had been involved in at least five carjackings across three locations leading up to the fatal confrontation.
According to the Crime Prevention Research Center, more than 20 million citizens are licensed to carry across the U.S., and that does not include millions who live in 29 states where the law allows permitless (“Constitutional”) carry.
In a report published over the weekend, the Center notes that defensive gun uses occur about five times as often as criminals use guns in crimes.
Workman is editor-in-chief at TheGunMag.com.
