The report released Wednesday by the state’s Inspector General suggests that the ambush killings of two Connecticut police officers were driven by the gunman’s angry encounter with police earlier, along with mounting personal pressures and his substance abuse issues.
It details how Bristol police Sgt. Dustin DeMonte and Officer Alex Hamzy were fatally shot in a driveway. The investigation found that a third officer, who survived the 2022 attack, was justified in using lethal force against the gunman, identified as Nicholas Brutcher.
Inspector General Robert Devlin’s inquiry, mandated in cases involving deadly force, describes Brutcher’s downward spiral exacerbated by financial problems, his ex-wife’s pregnancy with a former friend, and a confrontation with his mother following a traffic stop earlier that evening.
Police at the investigation site (Via Franklin Castle/Getty Images)
The report emphasizes that Brutcher is solely responsible for the murders, stating, “It would be incorrect to blame the traffic stop officers or others in Nicholas Brutcher’s life for the attack.”
On the night of October 12, 2022, Brutcher made a false 911 call seeking help for his brother after an earlier bar fight and traffic stop. When officers responded to his home, Brutcher, hidden in bushes, opened fire with an AR-15 rifle, injuring all three officers.
Wearing camouflage clothing, he then shot DeMonte and Hamzy multiple times in front of his parents, Joseph and Catrina Brutcher, who had come outside during the incident. The report suggests Brutcher may have addressed his parents during the shooting, saying, “How proud are you of me? How proud?”
