Kin of a beloved former NYPD sergeant who died Sunday while surfing with pals in the icy waters off Long Island say they are shocked because he was in great shape but that he likely suffered a heart attack.
Jack Shapiro, a 54-year-old outdoorsman and retired Brooklyn cop, was winter-surfing off Gilgo Beach with friends around 2:20 p.m. when he plunged into the surf and had to be pulled to shore, police and relatives said.
“He went surfing with some of his friends from his Tae Kwon Do class,” Shapiro’s 19-year-old son, also named Jack, told The Post on Tuesday. “He had all the equipment for cold-weather surfing. He had the whole face, head, gloves, shoes — everything covered.
Retired NYPD cop dies in apparent drowning while surfing in icy waters off Gilgo Beach: cops …