A young police officer was shot and killed during a routine traffic stop in New York on Monday night by a career criminal with 21 prior arrests.
Officer Jonathan Diller, 31, was just three years into the job when he was gunned down while asking a driver why he had parked at a bus stop.
His alleged killer, 34-year-old Guy Rivera, had been repeatedly jailed for drug and violent offenses and was arrested on a gun charge as recently as April of last year just yards from tonight’s killing.
Officer Diller leaves a young widow, Stephanie, and a one year-old son at his home in Long Island, and New York Mayor Eric Adams paid tribute to the couple as he announced the news last night.
‘Can I say it any clearer? It is the good guys against the bad guys,’ he told a press conference from the hospital in Queens where the officer was pronounced dead.
Officer Jonathan Diller, 31, of New York’s 105th precinct was just three years into the job
Officer Diller lived with his wife Stephanie and their one-year-old son (pictured) in Massapequa Park on Long Island in New York City
Suspect Guy Rivera was shot at the scene by Officer Diller’s colleague and taken to the same Queen’s hospital as the fatally injured officer
‘Same bad people, doing bad things to good people, less than a year, he’s back on the streets with another gun,’ Adams said.
Diller and a colleague were working in Far Rockaway as part of the NYPD Critical Response Team focusing on car crime.
When they asked the 34-year-old suspect to step out of the car he refused, pointed a gun at the officers and fired, hitting Diller in the torso just below his bullet-resistant vest.
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.’
Witnesses heard the shots ring out at 5.50pm, less than two blocks from the NYPD’s 101st Precinct stationhouse.
‘It happened so fast,’ Melissa Morgan, 39, told the Daily News.
‘The police officer fell on the floor and the other officers dragged the two guys out of the car. I was running for cover.
‘He shot a cop, it’s unbelievable.’
‘He was rolling around on the ground saying, ‘I’m shot, I’m shot’,’ another witness said.
Witness Deon Peters said he saw two people, including the officer, on the ground,
‘He was moving, he was saying ‘I’m hit, I’m hit!’ Giving location and all that,’ Peters told the NY Post, ‘Like he was crying.’
Diller managed to grab the gun from his killer after the other officer returned fire and hit the gunman in the back.
The gun that was recovered from the scene of the police officer’s shooting
Neighbors heard shots ring out at 5.50pm, less than two blocks from the NYPD’s 101st Precinct stationhouse before seeing the fatally injured officer lying in the street
‘Can I say it any clearer?’ New York Mayor Eric Adams told a press conference, ‘It is the good guys against the bad guys’
Diller and a colleague were working in Far Rockaway as part of the NYPD Critical Response Team focusing on car crime.
Radio intercepts recorded colleagues frantically calling for an ambulance moments later.
‘We need a bus here ASAP!’ one screamed, ‘We have an officer shot!’
The gunman was in a passenger seat when he fired through the window at the officer.
He was shot in the back as police returned fire before both injured men were taken to the Jamaica Hospital Medical Center in Queens.
The 41-year-old driver of the car, named by sources as Lindy Jones, was arrested and a firearm was recovered at the scene.
‘The line-of-duty murder of NYPD Officer Jonathan Diller is a tragedy for the NYPD and every New Yorker he so bravely protected,’ tweeted former police commissioner Bill Bratton.
‘He was a guardian of our city and now a guardian at the gates of heaven. His legacy will forever be one of courageous, selfless service and the ultimate sacrifice.’