By The Tablet Staff

PROSPECT HEIGHTS — Bishop Robert Brennan offered prayers March 26 for the NYPD Officer who was fatally shot Monday during a traffic stop on a street in Far Rockaway. 

“Upon hearing of the tragic shooting I am praying and will pray at Mass for Police Officer Jonathan Diller who died last night after being shot in Far Rockaway,” Bishop Brennan said. “I called upon Our Lord to bless his wife and their son, his entire family, and his brothers and sisters in blue. May our Lord grant them the strength they need during this time of unspeakable tragedy. I join with my fellow New Yorkers in mourning Officer Diller’s death, who gave his life for the greater good of our city.”

Officer Diller, 31, was shot in the stomach, below his bullet-resistant vest, as he and his partner attempted to pull a passenger out of a car that was illegally parked at a bus stop near the corner of Mott Ave. and Smith Place before 5:50 p.m. March 25, police said. The confrontation escalated after the passenger, later identified by police as Guy Rivera, 41, refused numerous orders from the officers to exit the car.

Officer Diller was rushed to Jamaica Hospital, the nearest hospital with a trauma center, where he was pronounced dead. He resided with his family in Massapequa Park, Long Island.

Rivera was shot in the back by Officer Diller’s partner, police said. 

Msgr. David Cassato, deputy chief chaplain of the NYPD and retired pastor of St. Athanasius Church in Bensonhurst, told Currents News that as a chaplain he responded to Jamaica Hospital Monday night after learning of the shooting of Officer Diller and encountered “a very, very heartbreaking” scene.

“It was very, very sad,” Msgr. Cassato said. “His wife, they’re very newly wed, they have a 9-month-old baby, and when the doctor came into the room and told them there was nothing they could do to bring him back, the family just broke down in deep emotion. You can’t imagine the grief.

“Think about it,” Msgr. Cassato continued, “Every cop that leaves their home in the morning goes with that heaviness of heart, never to know if they’re going to come home that night, and that is exactly what happened.

“The first thing we [as chaplains and fellow cops] can do is be with the family. [Officer Diller’s] family last night said to us, ‘Can we pray?’ They seem to have a real deep faith, and you could see the need for faith and how faith helps us. What do we offer them? We offer our faith.”

According to police, Rivera has been arrested by the NYPD more than 20 times, including nine felonies. City Department of Correction records show he was released from prison in 2021 after serving nearly five years for criminal sale of a controlled substance.

In a press conference, Mayor Adams called the incident “a senseless act of violence,” and added, “We lost one of our sons today, and it is extremely painful. This is what you call not a crime problem, but a recidivist problem. The same bad people doing bad things to good people.”

In a statement, Queens Borough President Donovan Richards Jr. said Officer Diller’s “heroism in making the ultimate sacrifice in the name of public safety will never be forgotten.”

Officer Diller’s family will hold a visitation at the Massapequa Funeral Home for several hours Thursday and Friday, according to the funeral home’s website. The funeral is set for Saturday at 10:30 a.m. at St. Rose of Lima Catholic Church, also in Massapequa, with a burial in Farmingdale afterward.