The man who allegedly fatally shot a New York Police Department officer on Monday evening has 21 prior arrests, including a gun charge, according to officials.
Officer Jonathan Diller and his partner approached an illegally parked car in Far Rockaway on Monday evening. Diller ordered 34-year-old Guy Rivera, who was in the passenger seat, to step out of the car, which was parked at a bus stop on Mott Avenue.
Rivera then refused to step out of the car before pulling out a gun and shooting Diller in the torso below his protective vest, Police Commissioner Edward A. Caban said.
The alleged gunman has been arrested for a number of crimes, including first-degree robbery, illegal gun possession, and selling drugs to an undercover police officer. Records show he was previously and charged on two felony assaults and possession of a controlled substance. He was paroled in 2021.
Diller’s partner, Veckash Khedna, returned fire, striking Rivera. Rivera remains in stable condition at Jamaica Hospital; charges against him are pending.
The driver of the car, Lindy Jones, was held for questioning at the 101st Precinct in Queens, according to the NY Post.
Diller was just 31 years old and leaves behind a wife and one-year-old son.
“What started out as an everyday car stop instantly became a moment where so many lives would be turned upside down,” Diller’s brother-in-law Jonathan McAuley wrote in a Facebook post.
Diller made more than 70 arrests over the course of his three-year career with the NYPD, according to Fox 5 New York.
“We lost one of our sons today, and it is extremely painful,” New York City mayor Eric Adams said at a press conference. “It is extremely painful.”
Diller’s murder is the first time an NYPD officer has been killed in the line of duty in two years. In 2022, officers Wilbert Mora and Jason Rivera were ambushed after responding to a domestic disturbance call in Harlem.