A New York Police officer was fatally shot in Queens on Monday during a traffic stop.
Officer Jonathan Diller, 31, was struck in the torso just beneath his bullet-resistent vest. He was rushed to Jamaica Hospital, where he died, WABC reported.
Police said Diller and his partner had approached a vehicle that had been parked illegally at a bus stop late Monday afternoon. They asked the men inside to get out, but the passenger refused and instead pointed a gun at the officers and fired.
Diller’s partner returned fire, striking the suspect in the back.
Police identified the suspects as Guy Rivera, 34, and Lindy Jones, 41, but did not say which one pulled the trigger. The gunman is at the hospital, however, and no charges have been filed as yet. The gun was recovered at the scene.
“I heard pop, then it heard it again,” said Deon Peters, who was working nearby with students, as part of the Police Explorers club, when the shots rang out. “I had my explorer kids with me in the office. I told them to go in the back.”
Police said the driver had previously been arrested for gun possession in April 2023. Mayor Eric Adams said the shooting was a “recidivist” problem.
“Same bad people, doing bad things to good people, less than a year, he’s back on the streets with another gun,” he said.
The New York Post cited “sources” saying Rivera was the shooter and that he had 21 prior arrests.
Diller was married with a child. Records show Diller joined the NYPD in 2021 and had been cited for excellence three times, The New York Times reported.
“We should never be here,” Police Commissioner Edward A. Caban said Caban said at a news conference. “And we’re here far too many times,” he added.
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[Featured image: Jonathan Diller/NYPD]
