NYPD officer killed in Far Rockaway
/
NYPD officer Jonathan Diller was shot and killed while conducting a traffic stop in Far Rockaway on Monday night. NYPD News
By Ryan Schwach
An NYPD officer was shot and killed in Far Rockaway on Monday evening.
Officer Jonathan Diller, a 31-year-old, three-year veteran of the NYPD assigned to the Community Response Team – which is focused on quality of life issues – was conducting a traffic stop in the Southeast Queens neighborhood when he was shot, according to NYPD Commissioner Edward Caban.
According to a preliminary investigation, the officer and his partner approached a vehicle around 5:48 p.m., outside of 19-19 Mott Avenue for being illegally parked in a bus stop.
NYPD officials say that the officers ordered the man in the passenger seat of the vehicle, 34-year-old Guy Rivera, to get out of the car multiple times – though they did not say why he was being ordered out of the vehicle.
Rivera then pulled out a gun and pointed it toward the officers, police claim. Caban said that shots rang out shortly after but didn’t say who shot first.
Diller is believed to have been shot in the torso, underneath his bullet-proof vest. His partner returned fire, striking Rivera once in the back. Rivera is expected to recover.
Diller was rushed to Jamaica Hospital where he later died.
“We lost one of our sons today, and it is extremely painful,” said Mayor Eric Adams, who called the incident a “senseless act of violence.”
“We witnessed a person who had a total disregard for the safety of the city,” Adams, a former NYPD captain, said.
Diller, who lived in Massapequa Park in Long Island, was married with a young son.
There is a candlelight vigil currently scheduled for Wednesday night in Diller’s native Massapequa.
The driver of the car, reported to be 41-year-old Lindy Jones, was put into custody. It is currently not known how the two men knew each other, or why they were together on Monday night, but NYPD officials said they know the two had “associations with people in Queens.”
Reports show that both Rivera and Jones had over 20 prior arrests. Jones is currently out on bail for a gun charge in April of last year, according to the New York Daily News.
Both at Jamaica Hospital on Monday night and at his “off-topic” press availability on Tuesday, Adams blamed the shooting on what he called a “recidivist problem.”
“We've been talking about the severe recidivism of dangerous people over and over again, on how do we stop them from coming into our streets – there's a total disregard,” said Adams. “These are bad people who are doing bad things to good people. This is the good guys against the bad guys.”
Mayor Eric Adams and NYPD officials announced NYPD Officer Jonathan Diller’s death at Jamaica Hospital in Queens on Monday night. Screenshot via NYPD News
Adams has long argued that recidivism is one of the main drivers of crime in the city, which he reiterated on Tuesday.
“A focus must be this recidivism, severe mental health illness, random acts of violence,” he said. “That is the mission, and those are the policies this administration has put in place.”
In addressing those concerns, Adams said it wasn’t a one item issue.
“The term bail has become a popular term but is more than just bail,” he said. “We have to properly fund discovery rules. District attorneys are saying that many people are not realizing that there are a large number of cases that are being dropped and dismissed, that's the analysis we need to look at, because they cannot turn up with the discovery fast enough, and so there's some serious cases that they're not prosecuted.”
In the hours following Diller’s death, Queens officials and community members expressed heartbreak for his young family.
“It takes unimaginable courage to protect and serve New York City, knowing there’s a chance you might not make it home to your family at the end of the day,” said Borough President Donovan Richards. “NYPD Officer Jonathan Diller was the personification of that courage, and his heroism in making the ultimate sacrifice in the name of public safety will never be forgotten.
My heart breaks for his family, friends, colleagues and the entire NYPD. May Officer Diller’s memory and legacy of selflessness in service of Far Rockaway families, and our entire city, be eternal.”
The gun found at the scene in the shooting death of NYPD officer Jonathan Diller in Far Rockaway. NYPD News
The shooting occurred just two blocks from the 101st Precinct, and feet from 19-31 Mott Ave., which is home to the office of several Rockaway elected officials including Councilmember Selvena Brooks-Powers.
“My heart hurts for the young widow and family that lost their loved one tonight,” she said in a statement on Monday night.
“Police Officer Jonathan Diller woke up today and left home with intentions to protect and serve, but most of all an intention to return home,” she continued. “Unfortunately, due to one single horrific act, his life was cut short. As I spoke to some of the officers, I learned of his courage in the moments after being shot. My thoughts and prayers are with his family and loved ones and members of our community who witnessed this cowardly act. Illegal guns have no place on our streets.”
This story has been updated.
