NEW YORK -- The first NYPD officer to die from the coronavirus was announced by officials over the weekend.
Detective Cedric G. Dixon, a 22-veteran of the force who served in the 32nd Precinct in Harlem, died Saturday morning in a Bronx hospital, according to WCBS-TV.
"We are hurting, we are crying, and we continue to fight," NYPD Commissioner Dermot Shea told reporters. "We simply have no other choice. It is in our heart, and it is in our soul to sacrifice to serve to fight for you."
The 48-year-old detective was described as a kindhearted and generous family man with a wife and children.
“If you had something broken, he was particularly fond of fixing technology and electronics,” Shea said. “He is going to be so sorely missed, and it is just a very, very difficult time for the 32nd precinct and for the department as a whole.”
There’s no word on how Dixon contracted the virus and sources told the news station that he suffered from asthma and diabetes.
Two others who worked within the NYPD died earlier this week: Giacomina Barr-Brown, a civilian administrative aide in the 49th Precinct, and Dennis Dickson, a custodian who had worked with the NYPD since 2006.
“We have lost three members of our family in a little over 48 hours,” Shea said. “As I stand here I cannot begin to describe what we are feeling, what the families of these three heroes are feeling.”
Shea has ordered any officer who is sick to stay at home under quarantine. As of Saturday night, 608 uniformed NYPD members and 88 civilian members had tested positive for the coronavirus.
