NYPD Officer Jonathan Diller, of Massapequa, engaged in a tug-of-war with alleged shooter Guy Rivera, police official said

The suspected gunman who fatally shot an NYPD officer from Long Island Monday night fired one shot at the officer while sitting in the passenger seat of a Kia after the two engaged in a tug-of-war over the suspect's car door during a traffic stop that quickly escalated into a deadly encounter, an NYPD official said Tuesday.

“I’m shot,” NYPD Officer Jonathan E. Diller, a married father of one who lived in Massapequa Park, could be heard saying on police body camera footage, the NYPD official said.

Diller, 31, a three-year veteran of the force, died Monday night at Jamaica Hospital Medical Center after he was shot once in the torso in Far Rockaway, police said. Diller was the first NYPD officer killed in the line of duty since 2022.

“Losing Jonathan, it hurts a lot,” said Mayor Eric Adams, a former police captain whose Tuesday news conference began with a moment of silence in memory of Diller.

Asked about what preceded the shooting, Adams said: “The NYPD’s still conducting their investigation of the escalation.”

But, he said, speaking in general of police encounters: “Things escalate quickly. And we can sit back and look at the tape and analyze it. All that’s well. But when you're in the front line and you are dealing with someone that you’re seeing that they’re not obeying the basic lawful order, things start to kick in.”

The two suspects being held in connection with the shooting — alleged shooter Guy Rivera, 34, and driver Lindy Jones — both have extensive criminal records, according to documents from the Queens District Attorney's Office.

Authorities have not said if any charges have been filed against Rivera, who is currently hospitalized, or Jones, who was not injured. The NYPD did not say what the driver is accused of doing, or why the officers were trying to force the men out of the car.

Rivera was sentenced to 3½ years in prison in 2011 after he pleaded guilty to first-degree reckless endangerment for firing a handgun at a man he attempted to rob of cash, the documents said. In 2016, Rivera pleaded guilty to criminal possession of a controlled substance and was sentenced to 6 years in prison and a 6-month license suspension after he sold cocaine and heroin to an undercover officer, the records show.

A law enforcement official said Rivera has 16 arrests — but most of the cases have been sealed.

Jones' criminal record dates back to 2001, when he was charged with attempted murder and first-degree robbery. He was sentenced in that case to 10 years in prison in 2003.

And last April, he was arrested for possessing a loaded handgun in Queens, records show. A spokesperson for the Queens District Attorney's Office said Jones was ordered held on $75,000 cash bail.

Meanwhile on Tuesday, more than 1,000 NYPD officers gathered outside a Massapequa funeral home as Diller's body was taken there.

“Our hearts are heavy as we honor our fallen brother, Police Officer Jonathan Diller,” NYPD Commissioner Edward Caban said in a message on the social media platform X. “We pray for his family and brothers and sisters in blue as we cope with this immense loss.”

A visitation for Diller will be held at Massapequa Funeral Home’s South Chapel at 4980 Merrick Rd. on Thursday and Friday from 2 to 4 p.m. and from 7 to 9 p.m., according to the funeral home. A service will take place on Saturday at St. Rose of Lima R.C. Church, 2 Bayview Ave., Massapequa, followed by burial at St. Charles Cemetery in Farmingdale.

During a briefing Tuesday, an NYPD official described the events precipitating the shooting that occurred at about 5:48 p.m. at 19-19 Mott Ave.

For some 10 minutes before the shooting, surveillance cameras show a Kia car carrying the two men was illegally parked in a bus lane outside of a T-Mobile store. It’s unclear why the car was parked there.

Diller approached the passenger side of the vehicle while his partner went to the driver's side. Diller asked Rivera to roll down his window, but he refused. Jones, the driver, unlocked the door, and Diller and Rivera then engaged in a tug-of-war with the passenger side door, the official said.

Diller eventually got the door open and directed Rivera to remove his hands from his sweatshirt pockets. Rivera then fired one shot, striking Diller in the abdomen under his bullet-resistant vest, the police official said. Police said Diller continued to try to disarm the shooter, even after he was shot.

Diller’s partner fired twice in front of the driver and hit Rivera once in the back, the official said.

Keshia Gilyard, who identified herself as Rivera's mother, said she hasn't spoken to her son in five months, but has a lot of questions for him and the police: What happened in Monday night's shooting? How did the encounter escalate? Why was her son traveling with a gun?

“There a lot of questions I have for my son,” said Gilyard, 56, of Long Island City, Queens, in an interview with Newsday. “I love him and just want to know what happened. I just want to know why he would go as far as to fire a firearm at an officer.”

Gilyard, who works with people with special needs, said Tuesday afternoon that he was in surgery a few hours ago and is waiting for the results of the procedure. She said he's in police custody and the hospital and police won't let her see him.

“They won't allow me up there … They won't allow me to see my son. I would like to know what's going on,” said Gilyard. “He's not allowed to have any visitors. I understand because of the situation, but I am his mother. I just wish I could get to speak to him and get answers.”

And she said she empathizes with the Diller family.

“I feel so horribly for the family, you know?” she said.

Asked about the mayor's comments that her son, who she said grew up in Long Island City and used to work for the city's Department of Transportation though he's currently unemployed, and the driver are “bad guys,” she said: “My son is not a bad person.” 

The last NYPD officers killed on duty were Wilbert Mora, 27, and Jason Rivera, 22, who were fatally shot in 2022 while responding to a domestic dispute at a Harlem apartment.

CORRECTION: A previous version of this story misidentified Keshia Gilyard’s son, Guy Rivera, in one reference.