WARNING: GRAPHIC VIDEO
A Connecticut man fatally shot two police officers in a horrific ambush in 2022 while in the grip of a spiral fueled by personal failures and drug and alcohol abuse, according to a report released by the state Inspector General.
Nicholas Brutcher shot and killed Bristol Police Sergeant Dustin DeMonte and Officer Alex Hamzy in the driveway of his home after luring them there by making a 911 call.
He was angry about a traffic stop that occurred hours earlier and a subsequent reprimand from his mother over the encounter with police.
A third officer who fatally shot Brutcher at the scene was also hit by the hail of bullets.
BRISTOL, CONNECTICUT POLICE AMBUSH SUSPECT WAS FACEBOOK FRIEND OF OFFICER HE IS ACCUSED OF KILLING
Nicholas Brutcher, left, executed Bristol Police Sgt. Dustin DeMonte and Officer Alex Hamzy, bottom right, in October 2022. (Facebook/Bristol Police Department)
Inspector General Robert Devlin's report (required in deadly force cases) found that Brutcher was plagued by personal problems at the time of the incident, including his ex-wife's pregnancy by a former friend.
“It is necessary to emphasize that Brutcher is the killer in this case,” the report states. “It would be a mistake to blame the attack on traffic control officers or others connected to Nicholas Brutcher's life.”
Police arrested Brutcher and his brother after a bar fight on October 12, 2022. The killer engaged in a war of words with officers at the scene before being let go.
Some time later, she called 911 to report that her brother was acting aggressively and needed help.
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Officer Alec Iurato, right, with Bristol Police Chief Brian Gould (Bristol Police Department)
As DeMonte, Hamzy and Officer Alec Iurato approached his door, Brutcher opened fire with an AR-15 while crouching in nearby bushes.
As his stunned parents, Joseph and Catrina Brutcher, watched, he stood over his victims and continued shooting.
“How proud are you of me? How proud are you?” Brutcher said as he pulled the trigger, according to the report. Hamzy was shot 24 times in total.
“I don't think I've ever screamed like that before in my life,” Catrina Brutcher told investigators. “My son walked up to one of the officers who was down and shot him at point-blank range in the head. I was screaming at him to stop.”
2 BRISTOL POLICE OFFICERS KILLED AND ONE SERIOUSLY WOUNDED IN PRE-PLANNED AMBUSH
Nicholas Brutcher poses with a dead deer. (Facebook)
Although Iurato was shot in the leg, he was able to take cover behind a car and take out Brutcher with a single shot.
Brutcher's friends and family told investigators that he had been suicidal in the months leading up to the killings.
The night of the incident, police arrested Brutcher and his brother after they got into a fight at a bar. Police called his mother to pick them up, and she reprimanded him at the scene.
“I felt ashamed and I told him,” Catrina Brutcher said. “I said, 'Nick, you're embarrassing your family; you're embarrassing our name.'”
Nicholas Brutcher posing with his brother. (Facebook)
An analysis of Brutcher's phone suggested a former partner thought she was pregnant and that he also believed he would soon become a father.
He had also repeatedly installed and uninstalled Grindr, a dating app for the LGBTQ community, and appeared to want to “keep this aspect of his life a secret.”
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“Analysis of Nicholas Brutcher's phone, interviews with family and friends, and a thorough review of all evidence collected provided information regarding the stressors in Nicholas Brutcher's life that likely contributed to the ambush attack on the officers,” the report states.
The Associated Press contributed to this report.
