WASHINGTON -- A U.S. Capitol Police officer has died of a heart attack he suffered after shoveling snow at his home in Delaware.
Nicole Alston says her husband, 44-year-old Officer Vernon Alston, collapsed Saturday afternoon outside their home in Magnolia after he'd been shoveling snow for about an hour. She says he died within seconds.
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Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid announced Alston's death on Sunday, calling him "a fixture on the Capitol grounds." Capitol Police Chief Kim Dine says in a statement that Alston was a 20-year veteran of the force, calling his death "a tragic loss."
Nicole Alston says her husband leaves behind a 3-year-old son as well as a teenage son and daughter from a previous marriage. She also has a teenage daughter from a previous marriage.
Snow is piled in front of the U.S. Capitol Building in Washington, Sunday, Jan. 24, 2016.