BRISTOL, Conn. — Beloved and devoted defenders of law who gave their lives to protect Bristol. That’s part of the message on the stone that now rests in a garden where the community can honor two officers killed in the line of duty one year ago.
Officer Conor Hogan said officers never shy from saying Lt. Dustin DeMonte or Sgt. Alex Hamzy’s name.
“To remember them and honor them and say their names,” Hogan said Wednesday after a memorial garden was unveiled at St. Joseph Cemetery. “Seeing kind of one of the first memorials and seeing their names set in stone.”
Thursday marks one year since one of the Bristol’s darkest days.
When DeMonte and Hamzy were ambushed while responding to a domestic dispute between siblings on Redstone Hill Road.
Local businesses donated the time and resources to create the garden.
“It means a lot,” Hogan said. “And it gives us somewhere to be able to come and think about them and talk to them and remember them.”
One year later, the loss is still raw in the Central Connecticut city.
Family, brothers and sisters in blue, and members of the community turned out in droves pay their respects during a dedication ceremony.
Resident Mary Mackiewicz said, “It was a horrendous tragedy and it’s so nice that all the citizens of Bristol came out to this beautiful tribute for the officers. We will always remember their courage and their bravery.”
The message on the stone also calls on forces beyond the world to watch over their souls.
“These two young men because of their story and how good they were, it’s still very raw, feelings of grief. But gathering together here is great because then we are together with hope even in the midst of grief,” said Auxiliary Bishop Juan Miguel Bentacourt, Archdiocese of Hartford.
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