Two Years After Ambush Killed 2 Connecticut Officers, Official Report Hints at Motive

Nearly two years after two Bristol, Connecticut, police officers were killed and another wounded in an ambush, the state inspector general on Wednesday released a final report that revealed new details about what unfolded that night and suggested potential motives for the deadly attack, but ultimately concluded the real reason may simple be unknown.

Bristol Police Lt. Dustin DeMonte and Sgt. Alex Hamzy were both fatally shot during the incident in October 2022. A third officer, Alec Iurato, was shot in the leg but survived. Wounded, he was able to shoot and kill the gunman, Nicholas Brutcher, after the attacker failed to reload his AR-variant rifle..

Connecticut Inspector General Robert Devlin  concluded in his 66-page report that Iurato's use of force during the Oct. 12, 2022 incident was justified under state law, CTInsider reports.

Devlin's report outlined four "phases" that unfolded that night leading up to the shooting at the Brutcher family's home.

Nicholas Brutcher was involved in a bar fight hours before he carried out the deadly ambush

Police were called to the scene and one of the officers who arrived pulled over the Brutcher brothers' truck as they were leaving, the report said. 

Because Nathan Brutcher was driving with a suspended license, the truck was towed. Both men became irate at the officers during the stop, yelling and cursing at them to the point where both were ticketed for creating a public disturbance, the report said. 

After returning home, Nicholas Brutcher placed a 911 call at 10:32 p.m. that lured police to the ambush at his home, the report said.

When DeMonte, Hamzy, and Iurato arrived at the home, they encountered Nathan Brutcher at a side door and ordered him to come outside, the report said.

As he came outside, Nicholas Brutcher, who was hiding in bushes on an adjacent property, opened fire on the three officers with an AR-15, the report said. All three officers were hit, along with Nathan Brutcher, the report said. Hamzy fell during the hail of gunfire, while DeMonte and Iurato were wounded, but managed to get away. 

After the ambush, Nicholas Brutcher emerged from his hiding spot in front of the neighboring home, where his parents lived, approached the two fallen officers, and shot them multiple times while standing over them.

Brutcher's AR-15 stopped firing after he inserted a magazine backward, the report said. He then drew a handgun and continued firing, the report said. 

Iurato then fired one shot at Brutcher from his position behind Hamzy's cruiser. The bullet struck Brutcher at the base of his skull, killing him, the report said.

The report noted at the time, Nicholas Brutcher was under enormous stress. Brutcher was questioning his sexuality and he was in the midst of a contentious long-distance relationship with a woman who claimed he may have gotten her pregnant. Another woman was due to give birth to his child that same month. Meanwhile, his ex-wife gave birth that same day to a child she had with another man, who was Brutcher's former friend, the report noted.

Their relationship had caused Brutcher to "spiral downward," Devlin wrote in the report, he was drinking heavily and taking anti-depressants.