At the Norland branch post office, where Bruce Parton started his mail route each work day, the American flag flew at half staff Tuesday.

A few miles away, near the apartment complex where Parton was gunned down Monday afternoon, authorities passed out fliers seeking tips about the slaying.

A reward of $25,000 is being offered for information in a particularly bloody year for the U.S. Postal Service.

Parton, a mail carrier since 1981, became the seventh postal worker killed on the job across America since September of 2009 — the highest number in recent memory, postal authorities said. That does not include slayings committed by employees.

Nationwide, there are an average of about 100 robberies of carriers and postal facility employees a year. That number does not include “volume attacks” — thefts of large amounts of mail, usually from satchels, trucks or mail rooms.

Full story:

http://www.sun-sentinel.com/news/broward/pembroke-pines/fl-mail-carrier-slain-folo-20101207,0,7405379.story