Triple homicide in Cambridge
Triple homicide in Cambridge
An investigation is under way for a triple homicide followed by a suicide that occurred in Cambridge on Friday, Dec. 9. At 6:40 p.m., police responded to reports of gunshots at a home on Grove Street (North Cambridge), where they discovered three deceased victims. A man was reportedly seen leaving the scene in a white Toyota Camry. After heavily armed police officers searched for several hours, the suspect’s body was found at 10 p.m. along the river at 1400 Soldiers Field Road, near the Brighton State Police Barracks. The suspect apparently died from a self-inflicted gunshot wound.
Middlesex District Attorney Gerard T. Leone identified the suspect as 67-year-old John Brosnahan. Brosnahan was a retired police officer who had served with the Bedford Police Department for 28 years. The three victims were all related to Brosnahan, who is listed in city records as one of the owners of the house in which the deaths occurred. According to Leone, the violence originated from a “domestic dispute.” Authorities have not released the names of the victims. A source cited by the Boston Globe and WCVB Boston, however, identified the victims as Brosnahan’s brothers and mother-in-law.
The same source said the argument began over care arrangements for Brosnahan’s 91-year-old mother-in-law. Longtime neighbors said they had never previously heard any domestic altercations. Cambridge Police did not receive any reports of violence from the home’s address this past year.
Brosnahan, who retired from the Bedford Police Department in 2000, had a valid license to carry a firearm, according to the Cambridge Police Department.
—Austin J. Hess