A 31-year-old New York City Police Department officer died Monday after he was reportedly shot by a career criminal during a traffic stop in Queens, according to law enforcement.
Jonathan Diller, a husband and father who had served three years on the force, conducted a traffic stop on a vehicle where a man identified as 34-year-old Guy Rivera was sitting in the passenger seat. As police attempted to get Rivera to vacate the car, he allegedly pulled out a handgun and shot Diller in the stomach, The New York Post reported. Witness Deon Peters told the Post that he saw Diller fall to the ground after being shot, yelling, “‘I’m hit, I’m hit!’”
Rivera “was asked to leave the car, he was given a lawful order numerous times to step out of the car, he refused,” NYPD Chief of Detectives Joseph Kenny said. “And when the officer took him out of the car, instead of stepping out of the car, he shot our officer.”
The NYPD officer, a father to a one-year-old boy, was pronounced dead shortly after arriving at Jamaica Hospital.
“Tonight this city lost a hero, a wife lost her husband, and a young child lost their father,” NYPD Commissioner Edward Caban said. “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. Our prayers are with his family, loved ones, and brothers and sisters in blue.”
Tonight this city lost a hero, a wife lost her husband, and a young child lost their father.
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… pic.twitter.com/q639gQGgoz
— Edward A. Caban (@NYPDPC) March 26, 2024
Rivera, the suspect in the officer’s shooting death, has 21 prior arrests and was released from prison in 2021 after serving five years for criminal possession of a controlled substance, according to the Post. He was also in prison from 2011 to 2014 for first-degree assault. Rivera was shot in the back when police returned fire following the shooting. He was taken to Jamaica Hospital, where he remains in stable condition.
Lindy Jones, who was identified as the 41-year-old driver of the vehicle, also has a criminal record and was arrested on gun charges last April. In 2003, Jones was convicted of attempted murder and robbery and spent ten years in prison before being released in 2013.
“I can’t … say it any clearer: It is the good guys against the bad guys and these bad guys are violent,” said New York City Democratic Mayor Eric Adams, adding that the shooting was another “senseless act of violence.”
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“Officer Jonathan Diller was just doing his job in Queens, working to keep his fellow New Yorkers safe, and a senseless act of violence took his life — a senseless act carried out by a dangerous individual with a gun and a total disregard for our people in uniform,” Adams added. “Let us come together in this devastating moment and pray for his family and our fellow officers.”
Adams addressed Jones’ prior arrest and said it represents “not a crime problem, but a recidivist problem.”
“Same bad people doing bad things to good people,” Adams said.