Biden to attend funeral for slain NYPD officer

Vice President Joe Biden plans to be among the mourners at the funeral for a New York City policemen gunned down last weekend.

The White House says President Obama has asked Biden to attend Saturday's service for NYPD Ofc. Rafael Ramos at Christ Tabernacle Church in Glendale, New York. Biden's wife will also attend.

Ramos and his partner, Wenjian Liu, were ambushed Saturday. The gunman claimed he was retaliating for the police-involved deaths of Eric Garner in New York and Michael Brown in Ferguson, Missouri. He later shot himself.

New York's police commissioner says Liu's family plans to make arrangements after arriving from China.

Obama is on vacation in Hawaii.

Meanwhile on Tuesday, New York Mayor Bill de Blasio has visited the place where the two officers were killed and led a moment of silence at City Hall in their memory.

De Blasio and first lady Chirlane McCray spent several minutes Tuesday morning at the site of Saturday's shooting.

The mayor bowed his head and McCray placed flowers at a memorial for memorial for Liu and Ramos.

Also, in honor of the fallen policemen, iconic New York City landmarks including the Empire State Building and the Rockefeller Center Christmas Tree dimmed their lights from 9 p.m. to 9:05 p.m. Tuesday to honor the slain officers.