Two police officers who were shot dead in Connecticut were apparently drawn into an ambush by an emergency call about possible domestic violence, authorities said on Thursday.
Connecticut state police said the 911 call on Wednesday night about a dispute between siblings appears to have been “a deliberate act to lure law enforcement to the scene” in Bristol.
A Bristol police sergeant, Dustin Demonte, and an officer, Alex Hamzy, were killed. Officer Alec Iurato was wounded.
At least 10 officers have been shot around the US this week.
On Tuesday night in Mississippi, a Greenville detective, Myiesha Stewart, was killed and several people were injured as she and other officers responded to a call, authorities said.
Early on Wednesday, three Philadelphia police officers were shot and wounded at a home and a suspect was killed when a Swat team tried to arrest the man wanted on a homicide charge, police said.
In Decatur, Illinois, two officers conducting a traffic stop were shot and wounded by a motorist who died after officers returned fire, police said.
Late on Wednesday, a sheriff’s deputy in central Florida was shot in the chest while investigating a report of a disturbance at a home. The Polk county sheriff said the deputy was “saved” by his bulletproof vest.
A Las Vegas police officer was fatally wounded early on Thursday after he and a partner stopped a vehicle while answering a domestic violence call, the Clark county sheriff said.
Bristol is a small city about 15 miles south-west of the Connecticut state capital, Hartford. Police there said a 35-year-old suspect, Nicholas Brutcher, was also shot dead, and his 32-year-old brother, Nathan Brutcher, was wounded.
Nathan Brutcher was hospitalized. It was not immediately clear whether he or his family have an attorney or someone else who can speak for them.
Authorities said they were working to answer many questions. No video had emerged.
Witnesses said they heard three sets of gunshots, about 30 in all.
“I heard a whole war going on behind me,” said Danny Rodriguez, who said he was outside his home across the street and could smell gunpowder in the air.
“It was so loud and crazy,” said Rodriguez, who also recalled a woman screaming, “You … killed them!”
A state police officer, Christine Jeltema, said officers were responding to a report of domestic violence at about 10.30pm when they encountered someone outside the address in question and shots were fired.
Police did not immediately say who opened fire, who fired the fatal shots, or how many guns were fired in all.
“We lost two exceptional Bristol police officers and a third was seriously injured as a result of senseless violence,” the police chief, Brian Gould, said at a news conference.
Demonte, 35, was a 10-year veteran and co-recipient of his department’s 2019 Officer of the Year award. He was “very focused on his career and furthering his career and education”, the chief said. Demonte, who earned a bachelor’s degree in criminology, worked as a school resource officer. He and his wife were expecting their third child, Gould said.
Hamzy, 34, had many letters of commendation in eight years on his hometown force, the chief said. Like Demonte, Hamzy was an adviser to a police cadet program.
“The outpouring of love, support and prayers from so many is deeply appreciated,” the Hamzy family said in a statement.
Scores of officers lined a street and followed a vehicle carrying Hamzy’s body from the shooting scene late on Thursday morning. Demonte died at a hospital.
Iurato, 26, joined the Bristol department in 2018 and has a bachelor’s degree in government, law and national security, the chief said.
“We need your thoughts. We need your prayers,” Gould told residents.
The Connecticut governor, Ned Lamont, ordered flags lowered to half-staff, calling the shooting “a senseless tragedy”.
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