Vice President Mike Pence spoke with the mother of a fallen Buffalo police officer who died during a dive training accident last week to offer his condolences.
Craig Lehner, 34, was on a dive in the Niagara River last Friday when his tether broke, leaving him stranded in the water. After a frantic search in waters with a strong current that went on for several days, his body was located Tuesday, according to The Buffalo News.
Pence, who traveled to Buffalo later Tuesday to attend a fundraiser for Rep. Chris Collins, R-N.Y., called Lehner's mother, Buffalo Mayor Byron Brown, and one of the Buffalo Police Department's deputy commissioners to offer his condolences, The Hill reported.
Lehner was a K-9 officer and a member of the dive team. His body was escorted from the shore of the Niagara River to the Erie County Medical Center, a motorcade that included dozens of police vehicles. Police and members of the public lined the route, saluting, standing at attention, or placing their hand over their hearts as the motorcade drove by.
On Monday, President Donald Trump accused some of his predecessors of not calling the families of fallen U.S. soldiers. Advisers to former President Barack Obama said Trump's claim was not true.
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