Southwest Missouri Park Ranger Receives Medal

A Missouri park ranger has received the state’s first-ever Red, White, and Blue Heart Award after getting shot six times by a burglar last year. The award is given to a first responder who is critically or seriously injured or killed in the line of duty. Robert Bridges of the Springfield-Greene County Park Board was helping Springfield police officers respond to a report of an armed person causing problems at a business. Missouri Department of Public Safety Deputy Director Kevin Bond says the suspect fired ten shots through the front windshield of Bridges’ vehicle.

Since the attack, Bridges has had multiple surgeries and will undergo others.