Donations continue to pour in for families of fallen Bristol officers

BRISTOL, CT (WFSB) - The investigation continues into what unfolded in Bristol on the night of October 12.

As the community continues to grieve, many are also wondering what they can do to help support the fallen officers’ families.

Several fundraisers have been set up to help send money directly to the families of Lieutenant Dustin DeMonte and Sergeant Alex Hamzy.

One of them has now hit more than $500,000.

“Never should happen but the support is fantastic and I hope it continues,” said Tom Clark of East Hartford.

Clark and Lisa Lester are both retired police officers.

They went to the Bristol Police Department Tuesday to pay their respects and honor DeMonte and Hamzy.

“I cried. I mean it’s just so senseless. And it was an ambush. It was a rotten thing to happen,” said Tom.

As the community grieves the loss of two beloved officers, the memorial outside the police department continues to grow with flowers and messages of support.

“It’s heart wrenching but it’s also heartwarming if that makes any sense,” said Lisa of Columbia.

Lisa and Tom have both donated to fundraisers for the families of the fallen heroes.

“Yeah you have to support where you came from especially but just show the support for the families and the guys,” Lisa said.

There are four ways you can donate:

• Fund the First
• Liberty Baptist Church Bristol Police Heroes Fund
• Thomaston Savings Bank also has a Bristol Police Heroes Fund you can donate to at bank branches, online or by mail
• Drop off cash or check donations at the Bristol Police Department

“We want to make sure that they don’t have to worry about financial responsibilities or bills or anything like that going forward,” said Officer Conor Hogan with the Bristol Police Department.

Hogan is a Bristol Police Officer and Vice President of the Bristol Police Benevolent Association.

“Obviously we went through a huge tragedy. Those guys are gone and left a big void for our police department,” said Hogan.

He helped set up the “Fund the First” online fundraiser for his fallen brothers, which has raised more than half a million dollars so far for the families.

Hogan said any donation big or small helps. He also said the fallen officers would just want people to be kind.

Another way to donate will be to buy a sweatshirt from the family who runs the Lights on Rosewood home. The couple has raised over $17,000 for the fallen officers. They say the money goes directly towards the families of Dustin DeMonte, Alex Hamzy, and Alec Iurato. The online store is expected to be up soon.

“We are doing as much as we can to keep their names alive and keep the Bristol community tight. This little town is getting tighter each day,” says Rob Osenkowski.

The Bristol mayor is holding a press conference Wednesday morning.

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