An NYPD recruit died Wednesday from an apparently heat-related medical episode at the department’s Bronx shooting range — just a week before he was set to graduate, cops and sources said.
Edgar Ordonez, 33, died from what seemed to be heat exhaustion at the Rodman’s Neck firing range around 11:30 a.m. on a sweltering summer day in the Big Apple, according to the NYPD and sources.
He was taken to Jacobi Medical Center, where he was initially listed in critical condition, but could not be saved.
His class was slated to graduate on Monday, sources said.
Police Commissioner Edward Caban posted a tribute to Ordonez on X.
“Our hearts are heavy as we honor our fallen brother, Probationary Police Officer Edgar Ordonez,” Caban said in the post.
“We tragically lost Edgar earlier today, just a few days before he was set to graduate and join his fellow Finest protecting New York City,” he added.
“As we continue to grieve this terrible loss, we will keep Edgar’s family, friends, and fellow officers in our thoughts and prayers.”
PBA president Patrick Hendry called Ordonez a “beacon of joy and positive energy for his fellow recruits.”
“He had the drive and determination necessary to become a New York City police officer, and he was just days away from hitting the streets and making a difference in protecting our city,” Hendry said in a statement.
“From the moment a police officer is sworn into the Police Academy, they become part of our Blue Family. Now we must focus on being there for his family as they deal with this unimaginable loss.”
Police sources told The Post that city officials, the Bronx District Attorney and the state attorney general should investigate the officer’s death because cops are forced to wear heat-trapping helmets, long pants and heavy boots no matter how hot it gets.
“It’s no surprise that incidents like this can take place,” one source said.
“The police officers are the public,” the source continued. “They are people. They don’t have superpowers. When we’re issuing heat warnings to the public and having heat advisories, opening cooling centers — where is the relief for the police officers?”
On Wednesday, lines of cops stood in silent salute as their fallen comrade’s body was wheeled into the ambulance.
Meanwhile, his weeping family looked on in tearful shock.
In a separate, possibly heat-related incident at Fort Totten in Queens, an NYPD officer fainted and apparently struck their head Wednesday, according to sources.
That officer’s condition is not yet clear, and the NYPD did not immediately have official information on the episode.
There was a heat advisory in effect in the city Wednesday with highs of 86 and a heat index with humidity making it feel closer to 100 outside.
The ordeals closely mirror the death of a 32-year-old aspiring firefighter who collapsed during an FDNY training exercise back in October.
That man, Alexander Griffin, had been in the midst of the departmentally-mandated 1.5-mile run when he suffered an “undetermined medical episode,” officials said at the time.
Although he was treated immediately and brought to the hospital, he didn’t make it.
“Our hearts are with the family as they grieve this tragic loss,” a department spokesman said.