Following an apparent ambush that killed two
officers, Bristol police are looking to return a sense of normalcy. That
includes hiring more officers and building a permanent memorial to the victims.
Sgt. Dustin DeMonte and Officer Alex Hamzy were
gunned down two weeks ago. Connecticut State Police said the officers were
lured to a home on Redstone Hill Road with a fake 911 call. When they arrived,
investigators said DeMonte and Hamzy came under more
than 80 rounds of gunfire.
On Wednesday, Chief Brian Gould announced plans
to hire up to 20 additional officers. Gould said the murders have placed a
major strain on his department.
"Reallocating personnel, moving from support
positions into patrol positions,” he said. “And one of the things we're going
to need to do is we're going to need to hire quality police officers."
Bristol Mayor Jeff
Caggiano said two funds have already raised close to $1 million for the
victims' families.
"I received a check in the mayor's office,”
he said. “A personal check from a gentleman in Old Saybrook for $30,000."
Outside the Bristol Police
Department, a makeshift memorial keeps growing. Dana Sims brought her two
young daughters to see it.
"It's
amazing, and it's sad,” she said.
Caggiano said the
temporary memorial will stay for a few more weeks. But starting next week, a
new subcommittee will start exploring options for a permanent memorial.
Officials did not discuss the investigation
itself, but said the shooting has not altered how officers respond to domestic
violence calls.
"We have to do a complete debrief of
what happened, and a lot of that debriefing is going to come out of what
the investigation showed,” said Gould.
Connecticut’s new police inspector general is
conducting the investigation. The inspector general
already
released a two-minute clip of
body camera footage, but the events leading up to the
shooting remain murky.
A third officer survived the ambush. Officer Alec
Iurato killed the suspect, Nick Brutcher, with a single gunshot. Brutcher’s
brother Nathaniel was also shot, but it’s unclear who shot him or when.
Iurato remains on medical leave, but Gould said
he could return to desk duty soon. The inspector general cleared
him of any wrongdoing within four days of the attack.
“Although some details of the investigation remain to be
determined, it is evident from the evidence collected so far that Officer
Iurato’s use of deadly force was justified,” inspector general Robert Devlin
determined.