Bodycam Captures Shooting of Gunman Who Killed 2 Officers in Bristol, Connecticut

* (Disclaimer: This video content is intended for educational and informational purposes only) *

[The ambush begins at 25m;54s]

Bristol, Connecticut — On October 12, 2022, around 7:30 p.m., 35-year-old Nicholas Brutcher and his brother, Nathan Brutcher, left their parents’ house and went to Bleachers Bar located at 300 Middle Street, Bristol. Both had been drinking before they went to the bar. That night, the bar had an “open mic” forum and Nicholas Brutcher planned to do some stand-up comedy. While sitting at the bar, Nicholas Brutcher got into a fight with another patron. The altercation began when the other patron put his arm around Brutcher, who reacted by elbowing the man in the face. The fight then spewed outside into the parking lot and police were called. When officers arrived, witnesses pointed out the Brutcher brothers were driving away. At around 8:52 p.m., Officer Harrison Pollock responded to Bleachers, upon arrival, bystanders directed his attention to a white pickup truck leaving the parking lot. Officer Pollock pulled over the Brutcher brothers' truck as they were leaving. Nathan Brutcher was driving and both men were highly agitated and making rude remarks to the officers on scene.

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 Brutchers' mother was asked to come pick them up. After being picked up by his mother and returning home from the traffic stop, Brutcher immediately began putting on his camouflage, preparing his weapons, and within 30 minutes, at 10:32 p.m. placed the call to 911 to lure officers to his home. Sergeant Dustin DeMonte, Officer Alex Hamzy, and Officer Alec Iurato responded. Upon arrival, they approached the side door of the residence. They observed Nathan Brutcher inside the house and ordered him to come outside. At that time, from a concealed position on the neighboring property, Nicholas Brutcher fired upon the three officers multiple times, at first using an AR-15 style rifle and later with a handgun. All three officers were hit. Sergeant DeMonte and Officer Hamzy sustained fatal wounds.

Nicholas Brutcher walked to the driveway and toward Officer Hamzy and Sergeant DeMonte. Nicholas Brutcher’s parents, who had come outside and in the rear yard of their home, saw what happened next. Nicholas Brutcher proceeded to stand over each officer and fire multiple shots into them, fatally shooting both – first Sergeant DeMonte and then Officer Hamzy. Upon seeing this, Catrina Brutcher began to scream uncontrollably for Nicholas Brutcher to stop. At one point, Nicholas Brutcher’s AR-15 stopped firing (he had incorrectly inserted the magazine) and he switched to a handgun and continued firing. During this time, Nicholas Brutcher yelled, “How proud are you of me? How proud?”. Although wounded in the upper leg area, Officer Iurato was able to move around the back of the house and ultimately to the location of the Bristol police cruisers parked on Redstone Hill Road. From that position, Officer Iurato fired one shot striking Nicholas Brutcher at the base of his skull killing him.