HARTFORD, Conn, June 27, (AP): The ambush killings of two Connecticut police officers was likely fueled by an angry interaction the gunman had with police earlier, along with building pressures in his personal life and his abuse of alcohol and drugs, according to a report released Wednesday by the state’s Inspector General.
The report detailing how Bristol police Sgt Dustin DeMonte and Officer Alex Hamzy were gunned down in the driveway of a home also found that a third officer who survived the 2022 attack was justified in fatally shooting the gunman, identified by police as Nicholas Brutcher.
Inspector General Robert Devlin’s investigation - required by law in cases of deadly force - describe Brutcher in a downward spiral in the face of mounting debt, his ex-wife’s pregnancy with a former friend, and a scolding by his mother following a traffic stop that evening.
Nevertheless, "It must be emphasized that Nicholas Brutcher is the murderer here,” it said. "It would be wrong to place any blame for the attack on the traffic stop officers or others in Nicholas Brutcher’s life.”
Brutcher made a false call to 911 on the night of Oct 12, 2022, asking for help with his brother, who he claimed had been acting aggressively since the two were pulled over in a traffic stop after a bar fight earlier that night, the report said.
As DeMonte, Hamzy and Officer Alec Iurato approached Brutcher's home in response to the call, Brutcher opened fire with an AR-15 style rifle from a hiding spot in some bushes in front of his parents' house next door, striking all three officers, according to the report. Wearing a camouflage shirt, pants and vest, he then stood over DeMonte and Hamzy where they had fallen and fired dozens more shots at them in front of his horrified parents, Joseph and Catrina Brutcher, who had come outside.
"How proud are you of me? How proud?” Brutcher said as he fired, possibly addressing his parents, according to the report.
His mother's nonstop screams were caught on police body camera video.
"I don’t think I ever screamed like that before in my life,” Catrina Brutcher told investigators. "My son walked over to one of the officers that was down and just shot him point blank in his head. I was just screaming at him to stop.”