Editor’s Note: This article contains descriptions of police body camera footage that may be upsetting to some.
The officer who survived a purported, 80-round ambush on police in Connecticut may have ended it singlehandedly with one shot that felled the alleged gunman, new video indicated Sunday.
The state Office of Inspector General released the bodycam footage of Officer Alec Iurato on Sunday as part of its ongoing investigation of the Wednesday night shootout that left three, including two officers and a suspect, dead in Bristol, about 20 miles southwest of Hartford.
During the firefight, Iurato, who was struck and seriously injured, hobbled toward a pair of police SUVs to take cover as rounds rocketed ominously and a woman’s screams filled the air, the footage indicated.
The Office of the Inspector General, under the leadership of Robert J. Devlin Jr., is one of multiple agencies investigating the officer’s use of force. On Saturday, as it released that dramatic and potentially disturbing video, the watchdog stopped just short of calling Iurato a hero.
“Despite sustaining a gunshot wound to his leg, Officer Iurato was able to make his way around the house and back to a Bristol Police Department cruiser,” the office said in a statement.
“From that vantage point, he fired one shot striking and killing Nicholas Brutcher,” the statement continued.
The footage contains the sound and rhythm of Iurato’s limp as he moved from being a virtual sitting duck to finding protection behind the panels of a Ford Police Interceptor Utility, vehicles often equipped with ballistic-resistant front door panels.
The suspected gunman fired more than 80 rounds during the siege, the Office of the Inspector General said. Law enforcement sources told NBC New York the weapon used against police was a semiautomatic rifle similar to an AR-15.
Iurato, 26, lowered his body, leaned against a closed driver’s door, looked ahead, and raised his gun with two hands toward the top of the SUV’s windshield, the video shows. A pop rang out.
“One down,” Iurato said over his radio as he limped to the target, briefly illuminating the suspect with the tactical flashlight attached to his service weapon. “Suspect down.”
Officer Alex Hamzy, 34, was declared dead at the scene, according to a Bristol Police Department statement. Sgt. Dustin DeMonte, 35, died at Bristol Hospital, it said.
The state medical examiner said the cause of death for Hamzy, an 8-year officer, was gunshot wounds to the head and torso; DeMonte, on the Bristol force for 10 years, was felled by wounds to his head, torso, and extremity.
Both fatalities were deemed to be homicides.
Iurato was released Thursday from St. Francis Hospital in Hartford. Police Chief Brian Gould said the officer had undergone surgery during his stay.
The Office of the Inspector General said Sunday that it appears the officer’s use of force was justified.
The suspected shooter was identified by authorities as Nicholas Brutcher, 35. Brother Nathan Brutcher, 32, was injured and hospitalized in unknown condition, police said. The source of his injury was not available.
Law enforcement sources told NBC New York that Nicholas Brutcher had been kicked out of a bar and cited by police for being disorderly before he went home, grabbed the AR-15-style rifle, and made a false call about a disturbance in order to lure officers to the location.
Authorities said violence erupted when police responded to at least one call of possible domestic violence involving the brothers about 10:30 p.m.
“Preliminary information appears to point to the 911 call being a deliberate act to lure law enforcement to the scene,” Connecticut State Police said in a statement Wednesday.
Gov. Ned Lamont said at a news conference Thursday that the tragic events show the sacrifices that come with a career in front-line law enforcement.
“It’s just a reminder what the men and women in blue do every day on our behalf to keep us safe,” he said.
The Bristol Police Union did not immediately respond to a request for its response to the bodycam footage.
A combined service for Demonte and Hamzy, open to the public, is scheduled for 11 a.m. Friday at the University of Connecticut’s Pratt & Whitney Stadium at Rentschler Field in East Hartford.
Yasmeen Persaud, Michelle Acevedo, Brittany Kubicko and Jonathan Dienst contributed.