A 31-year-old NYPD officer was fatally shot by a career criminal during a traffic stop in Queens on Monday evening, in what was described as a “senseless act of violence” by authorities and law enforcement sources.
At 5:48 p.m., Jonathan Diller and a fellow officer reportedly stopped a car that was parked unlawfully at a bus stop at 1919 Mott Ave. in Far Rockaway. One of the two men inside the car, identified as 34-year-old Guy Rivera, brandished a pistol at the policemen as they drew closer and he started to shoot, according to the police.
Diller, a married father of a one-year-old child, was reportedly wounded in the chest under his bulletproof vest, whereas the suspect was hit in the back when Diller’s colleague opened fire.
Witness Deon Peters said that after the suspect opened fire, Diller—who had been with the department for three years—fell to the ground and cried out that he had been “hit.”
The officer was sent to Jamaica Hospital, where authorities stated that he was later declared dead. Rivera was also sent to Jamaica Hospital, where his condition was listed as stable. Both Rivera and the other passenger – 41-year-old Lindy Jones – had been arrested more than 20 times, according to officials. One of them had also been detained on a firearms charge in April of last year, officials added.
“This evening, on a Queens street, a uniformed New York City police officer was shot doing the job we asked him to do. He put himself in harm’s way. He went towards the danger all to keep the people we serve safe,” NYPD Commissioner Edward Caban said on Monday. “The doctors did everything they could. Tragically, they couldn’t save him and he succumbed to his injuries.”
New York City Mayor Eric Adams also paid a visit to the Jamaica hospital Monday evening and was among those who delivered the news of Diller’s death to his family.
“We lost Jonathan tonight. And Stephanie, his wife, I was speaking with her, was extremely impactful. Brought me back at the beginning of my term as mayor speaking with the family members of officers Rivera and Mora, and just feeling that intense pain, hoping that it was not true,” Adams said, referring to the murder of two cops in January 2022 in Harlem. “It was because of a senseless act of violence that we witnessed a person [who] had a total disregard for the safety of this city.”
