On September 21, 1988 at approximately 7:30 pm, Trooper Robert J. Kolilis was struck and fatally injured by a pickup truck on Missouri Route M in Washington County near Irondale, Missouri.
Corporal Bruns was killed when the patrol vehicle he was a passenger in skidded off an icy road and hit a bridge abutment on an ice covered Missouri Highway 6 near St. Joseph. Corporal Bruns was an 18 year veteran of the Highway Patrol. One week earlier he was a pallbearer in the fundeal of for Trooper Russel Harper. The driver, Keverne Kulle was hospitalized with broken bones and bruises. Driving conditions were hazardous state wide as a sleet and ice storm swept through the state.
Corporal Bruns was appointed to the Highway Patrol in 1968. He was survived by his wife, son and daughter.
Missouri Law Enforcement Memorial