By Christine Dempsey
The Hartford Courant
HARTFORD — The death of an off-duty corrections officer who fell and hit his head during a scuffle at a May 29 concert has been ruled a homicide by the state medical examiner’s office, police said Tuesday.
Brad Emmelmann, 37, of Southwick, Mass. died June 14. He was lieutenant with the state Department of Correction, assigned to the Northern Correctional Institution in Somers, said spokesman Andrius Banevicius.
His fall happened during a fight at the Xfinity Theatre, where country music singer Jason Aldean was performing.
He wasn’t one of the main people involved in the clash, Deputy Police Chief Brian Foley said.
“He wasn’t a direct actor, from what the video showed,” Foley said. “He grabbed onto someone else” before he fell and hit his head.
The cause of Emmelmann’s death is “subarachnoid hemorrhage,” or bleeding on the brain, according to a medical examiner’s spokeswoman. She would not say when the medical examiner made that determination; the Hartford police released the findings Tuesday.
Emmelmann worked for the state’s prison system for more than 13 years, Banevicius said.
“The Department of Correction is still reeling from the loss of such an outstanding correctional professional. Our thoughts and prayers continue to be with Lt. Emmelmann’s family,” he said.
He left behind a wife and two daughters. An outdoorsman, Emmelmann liked fishing, hunting and riding horses, quads and dirt bikes, according to his obituary. He also loved coaching his daughters’ soccer teams, it said.
Last year, Southwick police gave Emmelmann an Outstanding Citizen Award for saving the life of a 22-year-old who had been thrown from a car during a fiery crash in his neighborhood.
“Everyone knew Brad as a family man and peacemaker, so kind, so caring, and so protective,” the obit says. “He was a gentle giant with an amazingly large heart who cared for everyone.”
His death was Hartford’s 22nd homicide. A fatal shooting on South Prospect Street late Monday night was the 23rd, and another shooting death on Pershing Street Tuesday was the 24th, police said.
Courant Staff Writer Kelly Glista contributed to this report.