Salute to fallen NYPD Officer Jonathan Diller: ‘He epitomized what the NYPD is all about’
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MASSAPEQUA PARK, N.Y. (PIX11) – It was a solemn salute to one of NYPD’s finest — shot and killed in the line of duty — Tuesday evening as a police procession escorted NYPD Officer Jonathan Diller’s body from New York City to a Massapequa Park funeral home.
Diller’s heartbroken family was there to receive his remains back home on Long Island.
“Imagine the pain of going through something as unnatural as burying a parent,” Mayor Eric Adams said.
Diller’s son, Ryan, is just 1 year old. His wife Stephanie’s brother, Jonathan McAuley, is also an NYPD member with the Harbor Unit.
“You were a good man and a great father … I swear to you that I will look after your son as if he were my own. For the rest of my life,” McAuley wrote on Facebook.
Funeral set for fallen NYPD cop Jonathan Diller: ‘Our hero police officer’
Chris Johnson is on the Special Ops team with McAuley. Johnson told PIX11 News he was in the air Monday night with the Aviation Unit, helping escort the cop caravan to Jamaica Hospital.
Diller, 31, was shot during a traffic stop in Queens Monday evening. Police said Guy Rivera is the suspect, who they described as a career criminal.
“All of a sudden, Jon said, ‘Oh my God, it’s my brother-in-law. He’s the one who got shot!'” Johnson recalled.
The fellow NYPD cop felt he had to help this shattered family. One he’s celebrated good times with — at a bachelor party, a wedding, and work events.
Johnson launched a GoFundMe that quickly raised well over six figures for the Dillers.
“In the grand scheme of things, it’s not a father, it’s not a husband, it’s not a 20-year career with a pension. All those things are gone,” Johnson said.
At Diller’s neighborhood in Massapequa Park — a town where the thin blue line runs deep — people put up blue ribbons.
“We’re going to do whatever we can to help the family at this time,” Mayor Daniel Pearl said.
NYPD Commissioner Edward Caban, meanwhile, made his way to Diller’s home precinct in Rosedale, Queens on Tuesday.
“He epitomized what the NYPD is all about hard work, sacrifices, and our hearts go out to his family,” Caban told PIX11 News.
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