NYPD officer shot and killed Monday during traffic stop, leaves behind a wife and baby, driver charged

A New York City police officer was shot and killed Monday during a traffic stop, according to the city’s mayor, and leaves behind a wife and baby

According to Fox 5, the driver behind the wheel when NYPD officer Jonathan Diller was shot and killed Monday during a traffic stop in Queens has been arrested and charged.

According to Fox 5, Lindy Jones, 41, of Queens, was charged on Wednesday morning with criminal possession of a weapon and defacing a weapon.

According to police, Jones was in the driver’s seat of an illegally parked vehicle at a bus stop when the officers asked the men inside to step out just before 6 p.m. in Far Rockaway. That's when the suspect in the passenger's seat, identified as 34-year-old Guy Rivera, according to a Fox 5 news report refused and pointed a gun at the officers and fired, police said.

This is the first slaying of an NYPD officer in two years.

“We lost one of our sons today and it is extremely painful. It is extremely painful,” Mayor Eric Adams said, addressing reporters at the hospital where the officer died.

The shooting happened just before 5:50 p.m. in the Far Rockaway section of Queens, police said. It happened after Officer Jonathan Diller and his partner encountered a vehicle illegally parked at a bus stop.

As they approached the vehicle, a man inside shot Diller below his bullet-proof vest, according to Police Commissioner Edward Caban. Diller’s partner returned fire and wounded the suspected shooter, who was brought to an area hospital.

Officials said that Diller was taken to Jamaica Hospital Medical Center but could not be saved.

He was with the police department for three years and was married with a young child, Caban said.

“We struggle to find the words to express the tragedy of losing one of our own,” Caban wrote.

The slaying was the first of an NYPD officer since 2022, when two officers, Wilbert Mora, 27, and Jason Rivera, 22, were ambushed in a Harlem apartment building after responding to a domestic disturbance call.

Our thoughts and prayers go out to his family, loved ones, and those with the New York Police Department.

A wake for Diller will be held Thursday and Friday at Massapequa Funeral Home. Diller's funeral will be held Saturday at St. Rose of Lima Roman Catholic Church. 

Officer Jonathan Diller leaves behind a young bride and child