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The Town of Oyster Bay has announced that a candlelight vigil for fallen NYPD officer Jonathan Diller of Massapequa Park will be held Wednesday night.
Diller was shot and killed during a traffic stop in Far Rockaway, Queens, Monday evening.
The vigil in his memory will start at 7 p.m. at the village’s Brady Park at 1017 Lake Shore Drive, also in Massapequa Park.
“Join Town Supervisor Joseph Saladino, County Executive Bruce Blakemanand Massapequa Park Village Mayor Daniel Pearl in remembering the service and sacrifice of Massapequa Park resident Jonathan Diller,” a town announcement reads.
Diller, 31, assigned to the NYPD’s Critical Response Team, was among two police officers conducting a vehicle stop at 19-19 Mott Avenue when a subject inside the car shot at the officers.
The fatal shot entered Diller’s torso, beneath his vest, police said.
He later died at Jamaica Hospital.
Officers returned fire and the suspected gunman was wounded.
At a press conference Monday evening, shortly after Diller died at the hospital, New York City Mayor Eric Adams called the fatal shooting “not a crime problem, but a recidivist problem,” as one of the suspects had multiple prior arrests, including a recent gun arrest, and was “back on the streets.”
Watch as @NYCMayor, @NYPDPC and NYPD executives provide an update on an ongoing investigation in Queens. https://t.co/i8slnloxPJ
— NYPD NEWS (@NYPDnews) March 26, 2024
Diller had been with the department for three years, police said.
“Tonight this city lost a hero, a wife lost her husband, and a young child lost their father,” NYPD Commissioner Edward Caban wrote on X last night. “We struggle to find the words to express the tragedy of losing one of our own.
“The work that Police Officer Jonathan Diller did each day to make this city a safer place will NEVER be forgotten. Our prayers are with his family, loved ones, and brothers and sisters in blue.”
The NYPD also released a photo of the illegal firearm that’s believed to have killed Diller.
Below is the firearm recovered at today’s officer involved shooting in the confines of the @NYPD101Pct. https://t.co/feTkyvDFlE pic.twitter.com/ikHEZM3qMK
— NYPD NEWS (@NYPDnews) March 26, 2024
