NEW YORK (1010 WINS/WCBS 880) – The NYPD officer who was fatally shot during a traffic stop in Queens on Monday was a married father from Long Island.
NYPD Officer Jonathan Diller, 31, had lived with his wife, Stephanie, and their young son in Massapequa Park since 2019. He was a three-year member of the police department, serving on the community response team for Patrol Borough Queens South. He made more than 70 arrests while on the force.
The New York–based nonprofit Answer the Call announced it will provide $50,000 to Diller's widow, as well as a yearly stipend going forward.
A candlelight vigil is planned for 7 p.m. Wednesday at Brady Park in Massapequa Park, according to a Facebook post from the Town of Oyster Bay.
The Police Benevolent Association released funeral details for Diller, including a funeral Mass scheduled for 10:30 a.m. Saturday in Massapequa.
Speaking from Jamaica Hospital Medical Center on Monday night, Mayor Eric Adams called the killing a "devastating moment."
"We lost Jonathan tonight," the mayor said. "And Stephanie, his wife, I was speaking with her, was extremely impactful."
"Can I say it any clearer? It is the good guys against the bad guys," Adams said. "And these bad guys are violent. They carry guns. And the symbol of our public safety, which is that police uniform, they have a total disregard for."
Patrick Hendry, president of the Police Benevolent Association, expressed anger over the killing, which was the first since NYPD Officers Wilbert Mora, 27, and Jason Rivera, 22, who were fatally ambushed in a Harlem apartment building in January 2022 while responding to a domestic disturbance call.
"These attacks on New York City police officers have to end right now," Hendry said. "We have a family upstairs that’s devastated. We have police officers in this hallway who lost a brother. It has to end now."
In Massapequa Park on Tuesday, Diller's neighbor Naomi Sanchez stood by a blue ribbon tied to her front porch. She said she has friends who have police officers in their families.
"It's very scary," she said. "We know they always put their lives on the line for the public. And it's very, very sad. Very sad. Every time they go out there, you never know."
Another neighbor, who was walking a dog Tuesday morning, stopped to cry as she passed the fallen officer's home.
Diller was shot shortly before 6 p.m. Monday while stopping a driver who was illegally parked at a bus stop along a bustling commercial stretch of Far Rockaway. He and his partner initiated the stop at Mott Avenue and Beach 20th Street and approached the car, which was occupied by a male driver and a male passenger, police said.
When the two officers tried to get the driver and passenger to exit the car, the passenger pointed a gun at them and shot Diller beneath his bullet-proof vest, according to NYPD Chief of Detectives Joseph Kenny.
"He was asked to leave the car," Kenny said. "He was given a lawful order numerous times to step out of the car. He refused. And when the officers took him out of the car, rather than stepping out of the car, he shot our officer."
Diller "stayed in the fight" after being wounded and tried to disarm the suspect, Kenny said. "The gun hit the ground. And as the perpetrator was still reaching for it, this cop was able to grab it, although he was still shot."
Diller's partner returned fire and shot the gunman.
Witnesses described a chaotic scene in which police pulled the two men out of the car. Diller was on the ground screaming, "I'm hit. I'm hit."
He was rushed in critical condition to the hospital, where he was pronounced dead.
"Tragically, they couldn't save him and he succumbed to his injuries," NYPD Commissioner Edward Caban said from the hospital.
"There will be plenty of time for anger, grief and for processing pain," the commissioner said. "But right now, our prayers are with our fallen officer's family, his fellow cops and every member of the New York City Police Department. But most of all, they're with the officer himself. God bless him."
Video released by the PBA shows officers transferring Diller's body to an ambulance outside the hospital as a bagpiper plays and NYPD members salute.
Gov. Kathy Hochul wrote on X, "I am heartbroken by the senseless killing of Officer Jonathan Diller tonight in Queens."
"My prayers are with his family, loved ones and the members of the NYPD. His heroism and service will never be forgotten," the governor wrote.
The suspect, said to be Guy Rivera, 34, was hospitalized with a gunshot wound to the back. He reportedly has 21 prior arrests, including as recently as last year.
"[He] did have a gun arrest back in April of 2023 and was out on the street," Kenny said.
No charges against Rivera had been announced as of Tuesday.
The Associated Press contributed to this report.