Police Officer Dies of Tornado Injuries

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Police Officer Dies of Tornado Injuries

May 8, 5:09 PM (ET)

By ROXANA HEGEMAN and STEVE BRISENDINE

GREENSBURG, Kan. (AP) - A police officer who was critically injured in the tornado that tore apart Greensburg was removed from life support early Tuesday, a few hours after his daughter was married at his bedside.

Robert Tim Buckman, a 46-year-old officer from nearby Macksville, suffered a head injury in the storm Friday that also killed nine people in Greensburg and another person nearby, officials said. He died early Tuesday at a Wichita hospital, his son Derick Buckman told The Associated Press.

"He died being a hero," Derick Buckman said. "He was sworn to protect people, and that's what he was doing the night he got picked up by a tornado."

During his final hours, Robert Buckman symbolically gave away his 18-year-old daughter in a marriage ceremony at his bedside, his son said. The family's hometown preacher officiated at the ceremony for Kylee Buckman and her boyfriend, Josh Mondello, 22, Derick's best friend.

apnews.myway.com/article/20070508/D8P0EEI80.html

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"Alas", said the onlookers. "That was his job."