A Massachusetts judge admitted she was “taking a chance” on crazed Cambridge rampage suspect Tyler Brown when she sentenced him for trying to kill a Boston cop years before this week’s shooting.
Janet Sanders gave Brown a five to six-year prison sentence in her 2021 ruling despite receiving striking victim impact statements that warned Brown “would hurt or at worse kill someone” when released back into the community, NBC10 reported.
“Mr. Brown, I do realize that I’m taking a chance on you,” Sanders, the now-retired Suffolk Superior Court Judge, said in audio, which was obtained by the outlet.
“When people stand up, experienced police officers and probation officers, and they tell me, ‘This guy is a danger to the community,’ I hear that and it gives me… you know, I can’t look into a crystal ball and figure out what’s going to happen once you get out. But I do understand that I’m taking a risk here.”
Sanders continued, “And I just pray that my intuitions are right and that you have the ability, the smarts, the will, the support not to go out there and endanger other people’s lives as you have in the past.”
Prosecutors recommended a 12-year prison sentence followed by five years of probation over the 2020 shootout with Boston police officers, which saw Brown plead guilty to armed assault with intent to murder.
Rachael Rollins, the then-Suffolk County district attorney, said she was “disappointed” by Sanders’ sentence, believing the recommendation was “appropriate for the level of brazen violence committed.”
After Monday’s shooting, the Boston Police Patrolmen’s Union described the sentence as a “ball-drop.”
“The fact that the judicial system thought it prudent to show leniency to a wannabe cop killer 5-years ago is not only the definition of insanity but an undeniable insult to those who put their lives on the line everyday,” the organization wrote on X.
But retired judge Jack Lu defended the sentence handed out to Brown.
“It was not a failure of the justice system, it was the proper functioning of the justice system,” he told WBZ-TV.
“The judge doesn’t have a crystal ball. The judge doesn’t have extra sensory perception. The judge has to do what’s fair to everybody.”
Brown blasted one cop’s chest with a .40 Glock semiautomatic rifle in May 2020 after officers responded to a man wielding a weapon. He fired 13 rounds at officers and two could only return five rounds between them.
Brown, who was on probation at the time, pleaded guilty to eight charges in total and was released from prison on May 21 last year.
He had been discharged from McLean psychiatric hospital just three days before his alleged rampage, according to a police report seen by The Post.
“He has previously been diagnosed with post-traumatic stress disorder, anxiety, and depression,” the report said.
Brown, a known crack cocaine user, had reportedly told his parole officer he had relapsed and “was ready to end his life.”
The parole officer demanded a meeting with his client after Brown’s housemate said the perp was “off his rocker” and had been getting high.
They struggled to make contact with Brown – before managing to FaceTime, where he was seen wielding a semi-automatic rifle.
“These people are gonna f–king pay,” Brown allegedly said during the call. “I’m not going back to prison.”
Brown reportedly called his parole officer again, where he claimed he was “repping his ‘shooter’s name’” while waving his firearm.
That was before he allegedly erratically fired at cars on Memorial Drive – injuring two men.
A Massachusetts State Police trooper in his cruiser and a Marine licensed to carry a gun arrived at the scene and found people jumping from their cars and taking cover.
The pair heroically charged toward Brown with their weapons and shot him multiple times. He was treated on scene by officers and brought to a local hospital.
