DALLAS (Reuters) - A Dallas motorcycle police officer in Hillary Clinton's motorcade was killed in a road accident on Friday while escorting the Democratic presidential contender to a rally ahead of the March 4 Texas primary.
"I have just learned of the death of a Dallas policeofficer in a devastating accident that occurred as themotorcycle officers were leading our cars to this site,"Clinton, a New York senator, told reporters.
Dallas police identified the officer as Senior CorporalVictor Lozada-Tirado, a father of two boys and two girls whohad been on the force since December 1988. A police statementsaid Lozada-Tirado struck a curb, lost control of hismotorcycle and went down at 9:15 a.m.
Reporters in a bus following Clinton's car saw the officershortly after the accident, lying in a pool of blood on thehighway some distance from a crashed motorbike. It was notclear what caused the accident on a viaduct in central Dallas.
"We are just heartsick over this loss of life in the lineof duty," Clinton said.
Clinton, who is vying with Illinois Sen. Barack Obama forthe Democratic nomination, said she expressed her deepestcondolences to the family and police department.
Clinton made only a brief appearance at a rally she hadplanned in nearby Fort Worth, cutting it short to visit thedead officer's family before boarding a flight to Ohio, whichalso holds its primary on March. 4.
(Reporting by Claudia Parsons, editing by Stuart Grudgings)
