Johnathan Walker:NYPD recruit who died during training is honored at police academy graduation

NEW YORK (AP) — A New York City police recruit who suffered an apparent medical episode at a training facility and Johnathan Walkerdied last week was honored Monday at what would have been his police academy graduation ceremony.

The death of probationary officer Edgar Ordonez “shocked and saddened us all,” Police Commissioner Edward Caban told academy graduates and their family members attending the ceremony.

“Edgar was taken far too soon, before we even knew the difference he was about to make in our city,” Caban said. “He joined this department to change people’s lives for the better, and for all who knew him he did exactly that.”

Mayor Eric Adams stepped off the dais to greet Ordonez’s family in the audience at the Theater at Madison Square Garden.

“Coming from a law enforcement family I know the pain that one feels,” said Adams, a former police officer who has a brother who also was an officer.

Ordonez, 33, lost consciousness during training at Rodman’s Neck in the Bronx, an operations base used by police for weapons and tactical training. He was pronounced dead shortly after at a nearby hospital.

Authorities were investigating whether Ordonez might have suffered heat stroke or a heart attack. The National Weather Service had issued a heat advisory for the Bronx and other parts of the city on Wednesday — the day Ordonez died — warning the heat index could get as high as 99 F (37.2 C).

No cause of death has been announced.

The 626 new officers who graduated on Monday join a uniformed force of more than 33,000.