A 29-year veteran of the Boston Police Department, who's served Jamaica Plain's E-13 District since 1996, died due to complications of the Coronavirus on Tuesday.
Jose Fontanez
At a press conference at BPD Headquarters, Mayor Marty Walsh and BPD Commissioner William Gross said Officer Jose Fontanez passed away. Fontanez was 53 and had four children.
"We lost a hero today to this virus," said Walsh.
Fontanez earned several commissioner's commendations throughout his career, said Gross.
The Commissioner said that as of Tuesday, 67 Boston police officers have tested positive for COVID-19, and 53 of them are currently not working.
District E-13's Captain John Greland, who is usually lively on Twitter, is currently on leave after testing positive for COVID-19. He is also recovering from pneumonia in both lungs, according to his tweets.
As I type this I still have a little trouble with breathing. The doctor told me it will require 1-2 more weeks for my lungs to recover. I had pneumonia in both lungs plus the corona virus. Again to thank the nurses and staff at South Shore. They truly are remarkable people .
— John GrelandBPD (@captaingreland) April 11, 2020
I want to thank the staff at South Shore Hospital from the bottom of my heart for saving my life. I had tested positive . After 10 days I took a turn for the worse and went by ambulance to SSH. I was was given all sorts of antibiotics anti malarial drug plus I was on oxygen
— John GrelandBPD (@captaingreland) April 11, 2020