Fatal shooting of NYPD Officer Jonathan Diller came after accused shooter was seen with 'loaded down' sweatshirt, police say

An NYPD sergeant directed fallen officer Jonathan Diller and his partner to investigate after he spotted a man walking with what appeared to be a gun in his hoodie last Monday in Far Rockaway, Queens, leading to a confrontation that ended with the officer from Massapequa Park being fatally shot, a top NYPD official said.

NYPD Chief of Detectives Joseph Kenny, speaking at a Wednesday briefing at police headquarters in Manhattan, said a review of body camera video in the case appears to show suspected gunman Guy Rivera walking to a Kia Soul, which was illegally parked in a bus lane.

“When Rivera is walking back to the car, he is wearing a hoodie and the front of the hoodie was loaded down,” said Kenny. “It appears that the sergeant makes an observation and notifies officer Diller and the [police] driver to investigate what is going on with those two gentlemen.”

Kenny’s narrative adds to what Queens prosecutors have alleged preceded the close-range shooting of Diller: At about 5:40 p.m. on March 25, an officer on patrol saw Rivera with “what looked like a gun in the front pocket of his sweatshirt,” prosecutors said Monday.

Rivera, 34, of Woodside, Queens, and driver Lindy Jones, 41, who is also charged in connection with Diller’s killing, then got into the 2016 Kia parked in front of 19-19 Mott Ave.

After what police have described as a “tug-of-war” between Diller and Rivera over the car door, Rivera shot Diller once in the abdomen — below his bullet-resistant vest. Diller’s partner fired twice in front of the driver and hit Rivera once in the back, police said.

The NYPD, in the immediate aftermath of Diller’s killing and in the days following, had only pointed to the Kia being parked illegally as the reason Diller confronted Rivera.

After allegedly shooting Diller, Rivera aimed his gun at NYPD Sgt. Sasha Rosen, who used his hand to direct the gun away from his body, prosecutors said. But Rivera’s finger remained on the trigger as he tried to point the gun, which was loaded, back toward Rosen, prosecutors said, adding that the gun jammed. It’s unclear if Rosen is the same sergeant who directed Diller and his partner to investigate the man appearing to be carrying a gun.

Rivera, who has been indicted on charges of first- and second-degree murder and other charges in Diller’s killing, is being held without bail, prosecutors said Monday. Jones, of Edgemere, Queens, has been indicted on weapons charges.

Kenny, speaking at the briefing, said the weapon used to kill Diller was a .380 semiautomatic pistol that had been legally purchased in 1996 at a hardware store in Lynchburg, Virginia. Another gun, a 9 mm handgun that was found in the glove compartment of the Kia during a subsequent search, has a defaced serial number so it can't be traced, police have said.

Diller was posthumously promoted to detective first grade. The three-year NYPD veteran, who was assigned to the Queens South Community Response Team, is survived by his wife, Stephanie, and 1-year-old son, Ryan.

Later during Wednesday’s briefing, NYPD deputy commissioner Kaz Daughtry gave an emotional recounting of the moments at Jamaica Hospital Medical Center, where Diller was being treated for his gunshot wound.

Daughtry said he was told that doctors were massaging Diller's heart and that police officials were informed that Diller had regained a pulse.

“We were extremely optimistic, everyone in the hospital was optimistic,” Daughtry said. “Thirty minutes later they came back to say he had passed away.”

“I almost feel that I am sort of responsible because I, myself, Chief [John] Chell, Chief [Jeffrey] Maddrey, were the ones that created the CRT [community response team],” Daughtry said. “If we didn't create this team, Officer Diller would still be here.”