A recently declassified bodycam video shows a wounded police officer in Bristol, Connecticut, shooting and killing the suspect who was responsible for the deaths of two other officers.
In the horrifying photographs that were revealed on Sunday, Officer Alec Iurato is shown battling through the agony of his injuries in order to shoot at Nicholas Brutcher, who had earlier placed a fake 911 call claiming that two brothers were fighting on the previous Wednesday.
Iurato, Sgt. Dustin Demonte, and Officer Alex Hamzy had responded to the call by walking around to the side door of a residence on Redstone Hill Road in order to talk to Brutcher. They had ordered him to put his hands up and step outside of the house before they could speak to him.
The Inspector General for the state of Connecticut says that Brutcher, who is 35 years old, attacked the police officers from behind after he walked outside and started shooting with “well over” 80 rounds.
Both Demonte, age 35, and Hamzy, age 34, passed away. Iurato, age 26, was hit by a bullet to the leg.
In the clip from the body camera, Iurato can be seen taking out his radio as he is bleeding and injured.
“Shots fired, shots fired!” the officer tells a police dispatcher. “More cars. Send everyone!”
“Officer shot, officer shot,” he adds while moaning in pain.
Iurato is seen leaning against a tree and what looks to be his flashlight being pulled out in order to examine his injuries. As he walks in the direction of the sound of gunfire, he can be heard muttering an obscenity under his breath.
Iurato makes his approach to a police vehicle that is parked on the street as a lady can be heard screaming off camera and rapid firing can be heard.
He takes cover behind the driver’s seat of the vehicle, from which vantage point he fires off a single shot.
Iuarto then comes around to the front of the home, where he shines his spotlight on the object as the woman’s screams become more audible.
“One down,” he tells the dispatcher. “Suspect down.”
The shot killed Nicholas Brutcher, who is not visible in the video.
“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,” officials said in a press release.
