The fallen Springfield police officer has received national and regional attention, including posthumous honors from the Celtics and the Red Sox.
BOSTON — Kevin Ambrose, the Springfield police officer who was killed in the line of duty in June, made an impact on many people's lives.
From the victim Ambrose was helping during his last moments of life, to his brother and sister police officers, to citizens of every imaginable stripe, the humble cop from Wilbraham is still being remembered for his heroism during a volatile domestic situation that ended tragically.
Kevin Ambrose
On Saturday night, the spotlight once again was shone on the 36-year veteran Springfield police officer as the Boston Celtics honored his memory and his family during a courtside ceremony at the TD Garden in Boston. Ambrose was posthumously honored earlier this year by the Boston Red Sox during a Fenway Park ceremony.
"It is a great honor that everywhere throughout the state people want to recognize him for what he did in his 36-year career," Kyle Ambrose, the slain officer's son, told CBS 3 News, media partner of The Republican and MassLive.com.
"Just the fact that people are remembering him six months later is fantastic to the family," he said.
Ambrose, 55, was shot multiple times after responding to a June 4 domestic call at a Lawton Street apartment complex in the city's Sixteen Acres neighborhood. Ambrose's killer, off-duty corrections officer Shawn Bryan, later committed suicide.
The Springfield Police Department posthumously awarded Ambrose the Medal of Honor, the department's highest honor, during a ceremony last month at Central High School. Springfield police Commissioner William J. Fitchet, who spoke at the event, said Ambrose "sacrificed his life so that others might live."
WATCH A CBS 3 VIDEO of the Celtics honoring Kevin Ambrose: