HARTFORD, Conn.– The killing of two Connecticut police officers was likely fueled by an angry interaction the gunman previously had with police, along with building pressure in his personal life and his abuse of alcohol and drugs, according to a report released Wednesday by the state inspector general.
The report details how Bristol police Sgt. Dustin DeMonte and Officer Alex Hamzy were shot 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 deadly force cases — finds Brutcher in a downward spiral amid mounting debts, his ex-wife’s pregnancy with a former friend and a beating from his mother after a traffic stop that night.
Nevertheless, “It must be emphasized that Nicholas Brutcher is the murderer here,” it said. “It would be wrong to place the blame for the attack on the traffic controllers or others in Nicholas Brutcher’s life.”
Brutcher made a false call to 911 on the night of October 12, 2022, asking for help for his brother, who he claimed had been acting aggressively since the two were pulled over at a traffic stop following a bar fight earlier that evening. report said.
If DeMonte, Hamzy and Officer Alec Iurato As he 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’ home next door, killing all three officers, according to the report struck. 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 shocked parents, Joseph and Catrina Brutcher, who had come outside.
“How proud are you of me? How proud?” Brutcher said as he fired, possibly targeting his parents, according to the report.
His mother’s non-stop screams were captured on police CCTV footage.
“I don’t think I’ve ever screamed like that in my life,” Catrina Brutcher told investigators. “My son walked up to one of the officers who was on the ground and shot him in the head at point blank range. I was just screaming at him to stop.”
Joseph Brutcher said his son was “in some kind of trance.”
Iurato, hit in the leg, was able to get away. He braced himself against a police cruiser and fired a single shot, hitting Brutcher and killing him, the report said.
Friends and relatives said Brutcher had spoken about suicide in recent months, describing a sick side that found its way into a stand-up comedy act that a friend called “dark and tasteless.”
“He told jokes about dead babies, suicide and the disabled,” the report said.
The evening had started at a bar where Brutcher had planned to perform at an open-mic forum but instead got into a drunken fight with a patron, prompting a bartender to call police, the report said.
After Brutcher and his brother, Nathan, left the bar, officers stopped their truck and had it towed, saying Nicholas Brutcher was too drunk to drive and that Nathan Brutcher had an expired driver’s license. Their mother was called to pick them up. At the scene, she berated the belligerent Nicholas, an interaction that likely left him feeling humiliated, the report said.
“I was embarrassed and told him that,” Catrina Brutcher said. “I said, ‘Nick, you’re an embarrassment to your family; you embarrass our name. ”
Authorities concluded there was not enough evidence to charge Nathan Brutcher, who was struck during the first round of gunfire.
Nicholas Brutcher fired a total of 83 rounds: 59 from the assault rifle and 24 from a 9mm handgun, the report said.
“Twenty-four shots landed on Officer Hamzy. Six shots landed on Sergeant DeMonte,” the report said.
According to the report, Brutcher had 14 registered firearms, including the assault weapon, which is now banned in Connecticut. He had purchased the gun in 2010 and was granted special status under the law, but there is no evidence that he applied for a required certificate of possession or the high-capacity magazines he had in his possession.
His blood alcohol level of .234 was about three times the legal limit to drive, toxicology results showed.
An analysis of his phone revealed that Brutcher had a “toxic” relationship with a woman, who told him on the day of the attack that she might be pregnant. Information on the phone also indicated that around the time of the shooting, he had impregnated another woman, whose due date was in October 2022, the report said.
“The analysis of Nicholas Brutcher’s phone, interviews with family/friends, and a comprehensive review of all evidence collected provided insight into the stressors in Nicholas Brutcher’s life that likely contributed to the ambush attack on officers,” the report said.
DeMonte, 35, was a 10-year veteran officer and co-recipient of his department’s 2019 Officer of the Year award. His wife was expecting their third child at the time of his death.
Hamzy, 34, worked for the police in his hometown for eight years. Like DeMonte, he was an advisor to a police cadet program.
Iurato joined the Bristol department in 2018.
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Thompson reported from Buffalo, New York.