NEW YORK – A police officer in New York City was shot and killed by a career criminal during a traffic encounter in Queens on Monday evening in what law enforcement officials exclaimed was a “senseless act of violence.”
Officer Jonathan Diller was shot in the stomach after police attempted to remove the suspect, identified by sources as Guy Rivera, 34, from the passenger seat of the car near 19-19 Mott Ave. in Far Rockaway, the New York Post reported.
Diller, 31, fell to the ground and shouted that he had been “hit” after the suspect opened fire, according to witness Deon Peters.
“He was moving, he was saying, ‘I’m hit, I’m hit!’ Giving location and all that,” Peters said, as he described the emotional and physical anguish encountered by the officer.
Diller was rushed to Jamaica Hospital in critical condition. Sadly, he was later pronounced dead.
The fallen officer was a 3-year police veteran. He was married and had a 1-year-old boy, NYPD said.
“Tonight this city lost a hero, a wife lost her husband, and a young child lost their father,” NYPD Commissioner Edward Caban wrote on social media. “We struggle to find the words to express the tragedy of losing one of our own. The work that Police Officer Jonathan Diller did each day to make this city a safer place will NEVER be forgotten.”
Continuing, the commissioner wrote, “Our prayers are with his family, loved ones, and brothers and sisters in blue.”
Jonathan Diller with his 1-year-old son. (Family photo via New York Post)
The traffic-related shooting took place about 5:50 p.m. after officers approached the vehicle that was blocking a bus stop.
NYPD Chief of Detectives Joseph Kenny said during a press briefing that Rivera “was asked to leave the car, he was given a lawful order numerous times to step out of the car, he refused.”
According to sources for the New York Post, the gunman was identified as Guy Rivera. (Image via New York Post)
“And when the officer took him out of the car, instead of stepping out of the car, he shot our officer,” Kenny said.
The deadly round struck Diller beneath his body armor, authorities confirmed.
Diller’s partner returned fire and struck Rivera, a man who has 21 prior arrests, sources said.
The chief of detectives said the weapon fell to the ground when a Long Island resident heroically wrestled the gun away from the suspect after Diller was shot.
The wounded gunman was also transported to Jamaica Hospital. He is expected to survive and is listed in stable condition.
Both Rivera and the driver of the car, identified by sources as 41-year-old Lindy Jones, have extensive criminal backgrounds, according to records and sources, The Post reported.
Records revealed Jones was arrested with a loaded firearm last year after a shooting took place on April 17, 2023, sources said.
At the time, Jones was charged with second-degree criminal possession of a weapon and other related charges, but was released on $75,000 bail. He was due to make a court appearance on Monday. It’s unclear if he made the appearance prior to the shooting.
Among Jones’s 14 prior arrests is a case of attempted murder in 2003, to which he was convicted and served 10 years in prison.
The homicide investigation of Diller remains ongoing. It’s unclear what charges await Rivera and Jones.
PBA president Patrick Hendry lauded Diller as a hero and excoriated the ongoing violence against police officers serving in the Big Apple, according to The Post.
“Our hero police officer confronted this dangerous individual knowing that he was putting himself at risk, knowing that he had a family waiting for him at home,” Hendry said. “But he did it to protect the people of this city and we need every single New Yorker to be with this family.”
At the time of his death, Diller was assigned as a member of patrol borough Queens south’s community response team.
“These attacks on New York City police officers have to end right now,” the union chief emphasized. “We have a family upstairs right now that’s devastated. We have police officers in this hallway who have lost a brother. It has to end now.”
