Body of slain Las Vegas officer gets police escort to mortuary

Pallbearers carry the casket of Metropolitan Police Department officer Charleston Hartfield on Tuesday, Oct. 3, 2017, as his casket arrives at Palm Downtown Mortuary and Cemetery in Las Vegas. Hartfield, an off-duty Las Vegas police officer, was killed Sunday night in the mass shooting on the Strip. Chitose Suzuki Las Vegas Review-Journal @chitosephoto

Police officers salute the casket of Metropolitan Police Department officer Charleston Hartfield, Tuesday, Oct. 3, 2017, as his casket arrives at Palm Downtown Mortuary and Cemetery in Las Vegas. Hartfield, an off-duty Las Vegas police officer, was killed Sunday night in the mass shooting on the Strip. Chitose Suzuki Las Vegas Review-Journal @chitosephoto

Veronica Hartfield, right, wife of Metropolitan Police Department officer Charleston Hartfield, hugs an officer on Tuesday, Oct. 3, 2017, as her husband's casket arrives at Palm Downtown Mortuary and Cemetery in Las Vegas. Hartfield, an off-duty Las Vegas police officer, was killed Sunday night in the mass shooting on the Strip. Chitose Suzuki Las Vegas Review-Journal @chitosephoto

Pallbearers carry the casket of Metropolitan Police Department officer Charleston Hartfield on Tuesday, Oct. 3, 2017, as his casket arrives at Palm Downtown Mortuary and Cemetery in Las Vegas. Hartfield, an off-duty Las Vegas police officer, was killed Sunday night in the mass shooting on the Strip. Chitose Suzuki Las Vegas Review-Journal @chitosephoto

Huddled near the back of the Clark County coroner’s office Tuesday evening, about 20 officers solemnly saluted the body of Charleston Hartfield, the off-duty Metropolitan Police Department officer killed in the mass shooting on the Strip. He was 34.

With his body loaded into a van, officers from several agencies heaved themselves into patrol cars, lined up their vehicles and escorted the body to Palm Downtown Mortuary and Cemetery, 1325 N. Main St., where he will be laid to rest, police said.

Several other officers from Metro and North Las Vegas stood on the sidewalk. A few wiped away tears, then raised their hands in a salute just before Hartfield’s body passed by them.

A service for Hartfield is scheduled for 6 p.m. Thursday at Police Memorial Park, 3250 Metro Academy Way.

Contact Rachel Crosby at rcrosby@reviewjournal.com or 702-387-5290. Follow @rachelacrosby on Twitter.