Saturday afternoon Police Commissioner Dermot Shea was somber as he announced that three NYPD employees had died in a little more than 48 hours from coronavirus.

Shea said the 23-year-veteran; Detective Cedric Dixon was the latest at that point to die from COVID-19. Dixon was a member of the 32nd precinct’s detectives squad in Harlem. He is the first officer to succumb to the deadly virus.

Speaking during a news conference at Police Headquarters Shea said, “We are hurting, we are crying and we are continuing to fight. We simply have no other choice.”

Law enforcement sources say 48-year-old Dixon was admitted to the hospital just a few days ago with a fever and shortness of breath.

Standing with the Chief of Department, Terence Monahan, Chief of Detectives, Rodney Harrison and Paul DiGiacomo the president of the Detectives’ Endowment Association Shea said, “We try to minimize risks, but it is impossible to eliminate risks. For first responders you just don’t often have the opportunity to isolate. You go to the danger.”

Also, this past week two NYPD civilians died from the Coronavirus. Giacomina Barr-Brown was a police administrative aide at the 49th precinct in The Bronx. Dennis Dickson was a custodian at Police Headquarters in Lower Manhattan.

Shea wouldn’t give details about the three employees health, but simply said, “This disease is particularly aggressive against people with vulnerabilities.”