The Armed Citizen® May 15, 2026

Armed Citizen® Today

On May 11 in Cambridge, Mass., a man began firing a rifle as he walked down a busy street. Security video from the incident showed the man yelling and firing erratically as he walked. The man is reported to have fired 50-60 rounds, striking two men and at least a dozen cars. As people abandoned their vehicles and fled in the stopped traffic, an armed citizen and a state police trooper fired back at the assailant, striking him multiple times and ending the attack.

The suspect is a 46-year-old with a significant criminal history who was out on probation. He was convicted of assault and battery with a dangerous weapon and witness intimidation in 2014. Then, in 2020, he was charged with attempting to kill police officers. He was sentenced to 5-to-6 years in state prison followed by probation despite the district attorney at the time recommending a 12-year sentence. Once released from the hospital, he faces new charges, including two counts of armed assault with intent to murder.

The armed citizen who assisted the trooper was a U.S. Marine Veteran and was a licensed concealed carrier in the restrictive state. “This incident lasted minutes thanks to the actions of that trooper and that civilian,” the current district attorney said in a news conference. (cbsnews.com; Boston, Mass.; 5/12/26)

From the Armed Citizen® Archives – January 1987

An 81-year-old Andalusia, Ala., woman turned the tables on an intruder she discovered in her bedroom. Awakened by the sound of a chamber pot being kicked over, the woman saw a man at the head of her bed. Taking a .38 from under a pillow, she shot and wounded the man, who fled. A police search of the nearby area yielded a wounded suspect, a man already facing charges in the attempted rape of a neighborhood elderly woman. (The News; Opp, Ala.)