Chilling new images and details have emerged about the brutal murders of two police officers in Connecticut.
The ambush killings of Sergeant Dustin DeMonte and Officer Alex Hamzy were likely sparked by an angry interaction gunman Nicholas Brutcher previously had with police, according to a state Inspector General report.
Body camera and surveillance footage shows the deadly series of events on October 12, 2022, which began at Bleachers Bar in Bristol, where Nathan got into a fistfight with another patron.
Police were called when the fight spilled into the parking lot, but officers arrived when the Brutcher brothers had fled the scene in a white pickup truck. Officers stopped their truck and towed it away, saying Nicholas was too drunk to drive and Nathan had an expired driver’s license.
During the traffic stop, Nicholas was seen behaving belligerently and swearing at the officers, mocking their height and salary.
The ambushes of Sgt. Dustin DeMonte and Officer Alex Hamzy were likely prompted by an angry interaction gunman Nicholas Brutcher had with police earlier. Killer Nicholas Brutcher, right, during the traffic stop.
After learning that one of the officers present is named Monica Finkle, Nicholas made a reference to Ace Ventura, comparing the cops to the 1994 film’s villain, Ray Finkle, aka ‘Lieutenant Einhorn.’
Nicholas is also heard saying comments such as: “I could outrun this son of a b***h” and “Look at you, you fucking mess.”
He also repeatedly threatens police officers, at one point telling one of the officers, “I really want to hurt you right now.”
Throughout the confrontation, Nathan is seen trying to calm his brother down, even telling him to focus his anger on him instead of the police.
“If you want to escape from the police, you have to hit me one more fucking time,” he tells his brother before asking if the police can handcuff him.
DeMonte, 35 (left), was a 10-year veteran officer and co-recipient of his department’s 2019 Officer of the Year award. Hamzy, 34, worked eight years for the police in his hometown.
Body camera and surveillance footage shows the deadly series of events on October 12, 2022, which began at Bleachers Bar, where Nathan got into a fistfight with another customer.
At one point, Nicholas tells his brother “we’re going to discuss this after this” and proceeds to point at the officers as he counts them.
Then he says, ‘I’m going to bend you over and fuck you like your dog does.’
Nicholas repeatedly attempts to instigate a physical fight with a police officer, who kept claiming that he was sacred to the killer and that he feared for his life.
“I’m scared of you,” the policeman says. “Why would I want to fight you?”
Both brothers were fined for creating a public disturbance.
After the brothers were picked up from the scene, Nicholas made a fake 911 call, 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. that same night, according to the report.
They called their mother to pick them up after their truck was towed. In the scene, he scolded the belligerent Nicholas, an interaction that likely left him feeling humiliated, according to the report.
He also repeatedly threatens police officers, at one point telling one of the officers, “I really want to hurt you right now.”
Friends and family said Nicholas had spoken in recent months about suicide, describing a morbid side that found its way into a comedy act that a friend called “dark and tacky.”
As DeMonte, Hamzy and Officer Alec Iurato approached the Brutchers’ home in response to the call, Nicholas opened fire with an AR-15-style rifle from a hiding spot in some bushes in front of his parents’ house next door, wounding all three officers, according to the report.
Dressed in a camouflage shirt, pants and vest, he stood over DeMonte and Hamzy where they had fallen and fired dozens more shots at them in front of their horrified parents, Joseph and Catrina Brutcher, who had come outside.
‘How proud are you of me? How proud?’ Nicholas said as he fired, possibly addressing his parents, according to the report.
His mother’s incessant screams were captured on video by police body camera.
“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. He was just screaming at him to stop.
Joseph Brutcher said his son was “in a kind of trance.”
Authorities concluded there was not enough evidence to charge Nathan Brutcher, who was hit by the first round of gunfire. He is seen at Brutcher’s house before the shots rang out.
Iurato, wounded in the leg, was able to escape. Leaning against a police patrol car, he fired a single shot, hitting Nicholas and killing him, according to the report.
Friends and family said Nicholas had spoken about suicide in recent months and described a morbid side that was reflected in a comedy act that a friend called “dark and in bad taste.”
“He told jokes about dead babies, suicides and disabled people,” the report said.
They called their mother to pick them up after their truck was towed. At the scene, she scolded the belligerent Nicholas, an interaction that likely left him feeling humiliated, the report said.
“I felt ashamed and I told him,” Catrina Brutcher said. “I said, ‘Nick, you’re embarrassing your family; you’re embarrassing our name.'”
Authorities concluded there was insufficient evidence to charge Nathan Brutcher, who was hit in the initial round of gunfire.
Authorities concluded there was not enough evidence to charge Nathan Brutcher, who was hit in the first round of gunfire.
Nicholas fired a total of 83 shots: 59 from an assault rifle and 24 from a 9mm pistol, the report said.
“Twenty-four shots struck Officer Hamzy. Six shots struck Sergeant DeMonte,” it said.
According to the report, Nicholas had 14 registered firearms, including an assault-style firearm, now banned in Connecticut. He had purchased the weapon in 2010 and it was protected by law, but there is no record of him applying for the required certificate of possession or having the high-capacity magazines in his possession.
His blood alcohol level, 0.234, was about three times the legal limit for driving, toxicology results showed.
Alec Iurato, 26, was rushed to Saint Francis Hospital and operated on for serious gunshot wounds.
Thousands of police officers from across the country gathered at a Connecticut football stadium on Friday for the funeral of two officers who were shot and killed in an ambush.
An analysis of his phone suggested Nicholas was in a “toxic” relationship with a woman who on the day of the attack told him she might be pregnant. Information from the phone also indicated that he had impregnated another woman, who was due in October 2022, around the time of the shooting, according to the report.
“Analysis of Nicholas’s phone, interviews with family and friends, and a thorough review of all evidence collected provided information about the stressors in his life that likely contributed to the ambush of the officers,” the report said.
DeMonte, 35, was a 10-year veteran officer and co-winner 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 eight years on the police force in his hometown. Like DeMonte, he was an advisor for a police cadet program.
Iurato joined the Bristol department in 2018.
