Slain NYPD officer Jonathan Diller is being mourned by his hometown of Massapequa Park, Long Island, where a 7 p.m. candlelight vigil will take place in Brady Park on Wednesday.
Oyster Bay Town Supervisor Joseph Saladino, County Executive Bruce Blakeman and Massapequa Park Village Mayor Daniel Pearl are all expected to attend the event honoring the 31-year-old policeman fatally shot during a traffic stop in Queens late Monday afternoon.
“His bravery and selflessness made him a model officer to his brothers and sisters in law enforcement, who risk their lives each and every day to protect ours,” Saladino said in a statement remembering the married father of a 1-year-old son. “In gathering as a community to join together in mourning, we pay tribute to Officer Diller’s courage and honor his memory.”
Officials ordered flags to fly at half-staff throughout the Town of Oyster Bay.
A funeral at St. Rose of Lima Roman Catholic Church in Massapequa is scheduled for 10:30 a.m. Saturday. The church is a little more than 30 miles east of Midtown Manhattan. A sea of blue is expected.
Diller’s body will then be brought to St. Charles Cemetery in Farmingdale. The Massapequa Funeral Home is holding Thursday and Friday visitations during the afternoon and at night.
Diller joined the force in 2021. He was killed in what Mayor Eric Adams called “a senseless act of violence” committed by a career criminal who police said had been arrested more than 20 times.
Diller’s brother-in-law Jonathan McAuley, also an NYPD cop, said Diller “was walked out honorably, to many tears and salutes” Monday night when his body was taken from Jamaica Hospital to a morgue, before being brought to the funeral home.
Former U.S. Congressman Pete King of Long Island offered his condolences on social media.
“NYPD Officer Jonathan Diller from Massapequa Park was shot and killed tonight in the line of duty,” he posted Monday night. “Thoughts and prayers with Officer Diller and his family.”
