Guy Rivera, the 34-year-old suspected of fatally shooting NYPD Officer Jonathan Diller during a traffic stop on Monday, is being charged with murder in connection with the officer’s death and attempted murder for allegedly turning the gun on his partner.
Queens District Attorney Melinda Katz announced Thursday that the ex-con recidivist would face charges of first- and second-degree murder, first- and second-degree attempted murder, and a slew of additional firearms charges.
Rivera is still in a hospital recovering from wounds of his own after Diller’s partner, Sgt. Sasha Rosen, returned fire. Prosecutors say the second cop wrestled with the suspect until his gun jammed at point blank in an explosion of violence in Far Rockaway, a neighborhood in Queens.
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NYPD Officer Jonathan Diller is survived by his wife and their nearly one-year-old son. (NYPD)
Diller and Sgt. Rosen approached a car that police say was illegally parked at a bus stop on Monday evening.
When they asked the occupants to step out of the vehicle, Rivera allegedly opened fire from the passenger’s seat.
The first bullet hit Diller in the stomach below his vest, police said.
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NYPD Officer Jonathan Diller, 31, was the father of a one-year-old boy. A violent ex-con has been accused of fatally shooting him during a stop earlier this week. (Tunnel to Towers Foundation)
Rivera allegedly turned the gun on Rosen, who fought back and pushed the barrel away from his body, according to court documents. After a struggle, Rivera allegedly aimed at Rosen again and pulled the trigger – but the gun jammed.
Katz’s office said he would be arraigned as soon as medically possible.
Guy Rivera, an ex-con suspected of fatally shooting NYPD Officer Jonathan Diller, appears in a mugshot. (NYPD)
Community members poured out Wednesday evening for a candlelight vigil for Diller, the 31-year-old father of a one-year-old boy.
A funeral is scheduled for Saturday morning in his hometown of Massapequa Park, New York.
Firefighters salute as the ambulance transporting the body of New York City Police Officer Jonathan Diller exits Jamaica Hospital Medical Center in the Queens borough of New York, Monday, March 25, 2024. Diller was shot and killed Monday during a traffic stop. It marked the first slaying of an NYPD officer in two years. (AP Photo/Jeenah Moon)
Wake services begin Thursday afternoon in nearby Massapequa, with thousands of officers and VIPs including former President Donald Trump expected to pay their respects.
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A police officer holds a lit candle as people attend a candlelight vigil for NYPD Officer Jonathan Diller, who was shot and killed while making a routine traffic stop on March 25 in the Far Rockaway section of Queens, at Brady Park in Massapequa, New York, March 27, 2024. (REUTERS/Shannon Stapleton)
Two suspects are being charged in connection with his death – the alleged gunman and an ex-con who is not accused of violence but who police say had an illegal handgun with the serial number scratched off in his glove box.
Both men have lengthy rap sheets and prior felony convictions.
Ex-con Lindy Jones appears in a Queens courtroom following the shooting death of NYPD Officer Jonathan Diller. A passenger in Jones’ car, Guy Rivera, is accused of opening fire on the police officer during a traffic stop. (Obtained by Fox News Digital)
One has pending felony charges, and both obtained firearms they could not legally own.
Rivera has had 21 prior arrests, nine of them for felonies, and he recently got off parole.
NYPD OFFICER SHOT, KILLED DURING CAR STOP IN QUEENS BY SUSPECT WITH MULTIPLE PRIOR ARRESTS: POLICE
NYPD officers sit in the gallery as ex-con Lindy Jones appears in a Queens courtroom following the shooting death of NYPD Officer Jonathan Diller. A passenger in Jones’ car, Guy Rivera, is accused of opening fire on the police officer during a traffic stop. (Obtained by Fox News Digital)
His pal Lindy Jones, 41, was convicted of attempted murder in 2002, served time in prison and was somehow out on the streets despite a pending felony firearms case from last year, according to the Queens District Attorney’s Office.
He racked up new weapons charges after police served the search warrant on his Kia Soul.
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Hundreds of police officers packed the courthouse during his arraignment Wednesday.
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Diller died at Jamaica Hospital in Queens.
He had a wife and a one-year-old son.
A GoFundMe campaign organized on behalf of his family raised more than half a million dollars from nearly 8,000 donors as of Thursday afternoon.