Boston police commissioner questions previous sentence for alleged Cambridge shooter

"Appearing on WCVB's "On The Record" Sunday, Cox argued the sentence Brown received for shooting at police officers in the South End in 2020 fell short of accountability. Suffolk County prosecutors on that case had asked for a state prison sentence of 10 to 12 years, but now-retired Judge Janet L. Sanders gave Brown just five to six years, with credit for time served."

""It doesn't seem like the sentence matches the seriousness of the offense in any way, shape, or form," Cox said Sunday. "And so now the person comes out and almost does the exact same thing with a bigger gun and more bullets. It is troubling, it is troubling that that can occur, and the lack of accountability around that.""

"On May 11, nearly six years to the day after the South End shooting, prosecutors say Brown, now 46, armed himself with an "assault-style rifle" and began firing erratically. He allegedly shot two men as they sat in their respective vehicles, causing life-threatening injuries before he himself was wounded in a shootout with a Massachusetts State Police trooper and an armed civilian."

"Asked whether he faults Sanders or the parole board for Brown's alleged actions, he stopped short of open criticism. "My job is not to criticize other people in their roles," he said, explaining he doesn't know all the factors that go in"

Boston Police Commissioner Michael Cox criticized a five-to-six-year sentence given to Tyler Brown for shooting at police officers in the South End in 2020. Prosecutors had sought 10 to 12 years, but Judge Janet L. Sanders imposed a shorter term with credit for time served. Cox said the sentence did not match the seriousness of the offense and that Brown later allegedly committed a similar shooting across the river on Memorial Drive. Prosecutors allege Brown fired an assault-style rifle erratically on May 11, shooting two men in their vehicles and causing life-threatening injuries. Brown was wounded during a shootout with a Massachusetts State Police trooper and an armed civilian. Brown pleaded not guilty to assault and firearms charges.

Read at Boston.com