JEFFERSON CITY, MO, APRIL 18, 2025 – Corporal Jason Walker, a park ranger with the Missouri Department of Natural Resources’ Division of State Parks, has been selected as the department’s Team Member of the Month for April 2025. He was selected for his service to the department and his actions while responding to a report about an individual who used a firearm in public.
After receiving the report, and with the knowledge that a group of children was nearby at Lake of the Ozarks State Park, Corporal Walker and an Osage Beach police officer set out to investigate. Together, they quickly located the individual, who was camping illegally on state park property. Cpl. Walker apprehended the individual and seized the firearm without issue.
“This was an extremely dangerous situation that was handled quickly and without injuries,” said Sergeant Jason Gordon, a park ranger with Missouri State Parks and Corporal Walker’s supervisor. “Corporal Walker worked well with the other agencies involved in the response and conducted himself in a professional manner.”
Corporal Walker joined the Missouri Department of Natural Resources in March 2022 and resides in Brumley.