Edgar Ordonez, the NYPD police recruit who died during training in the Bronx last week, was honored at his funeral on Thursday as a father who wanted a better life for his children.
Ordonez, 33, was undergoing an endurance test at around 11:30 a.m. at the Rodmans Neck firing range on July 10 when he collapsed from heat exhaustion, sources with immediate knowledge of the incident said. He was rushed to Jacobi Hospital where he died a short time later.
The Church of St. Anselm and St. Roch held the emotional funeral on July 18. Hundreds of cops and fellow recruits lined the streets outside of the house of worship, including Police Commissioner Edward Caban and Mayor Eric Adams.
Commanding Officer of the NYPD Police Academy Deputy Chief Amir Yakatally said that while Ordonez was one of 600 new officers, he had already made an indelible mark on his peers during training.
“When you speak to the recruits that worked with him, they spoke of a man that was dedicated to doing this job. He was a father first. He wanted to do this to get his kids in a better position, he wanted to make a difference. And he made that very clear amongst all of his peers,” Chief Yakatally said. “He was a motivated young man that pushed through all the challenges in the academy, passed all the exams — he was ready.”
Ordonez, who grew up in Harlem and the Bronx, was scheduled to graduate at Monday’s Madison Square Garden graduation ceremony. He had not been assigned to a precinct.
In addition to yearning to create a better life for his twin children, Chief Yakatally said Ordonez also wanted to help foster better relationships between the public and the NYPD.
“A lot of issues out there in the world, police and community relations. These things affected him very much and he definitely wanted to become a cop and he was never really quite able to just make that move until recently. But his main motivation was to bridge that gap between the police and the community,” Chief Yakatally said.
As the casket, draped in The Star-Spangled Banner, was gently carried to the awaiting hearse, Ordonez’s mother, Sofia Ordonez, let out a despair-ridden cry. Moments later, she was handed the flag which she sorrowfully clutched it to her chest as her son’s body was driven away. The surrounding officers offered one final salute before Ordonez was laid to rest.
“As difficult as it is at face value, just losing an officer and a father. Even more unbearable, is that he almost made it to graduation,” Police Benevolent Association President Patrick Hendry said. “We’re going to continue to try to find out what happened that day and be there for this family.”
