A man was charged on Thursday with first-degree murder in the fatal shooting of Police Officer Jonathan Diller, the Queens district attorney announced.
The man, Guy Rivera, 34, was also charged with attempted murder for aiming his gun at a second police officer, Sasha Rosen, who pushed it away before Mr. Rivera could fire, according to a statement from Melinda Katz, the Queens district attorney. Ms. Katz said that Mr. Rivera faced life in prison without parole if convicted.
It was not clear whether Mr. Rivera had a lawyer.
Mr. Rivera was in the passenger seat of a parked vehicle in Far Rockaway, Queens, on Monday evening when Officer Diller instructed him repeatedly to get out of the car, orders he refused, the police said. Officer Diller then yelled at Mr. Rivera to take his hands out of his pockets, the police said.
Mr. Rivera pulled out a gun and shot Officer Diller through the car window, hitting him in the torso just below his protective vest at close range, according to Ms. Katz’s statement. Officer Diller’s partner, Officer Veckash Khedna, shot Mr. Rivera in the back.
Officer Diller later died at Jamaica Hospital.
Mr. Rivera was taken to the same hospital, where he is still being treated. On Wednesday, the man sitting in the driver seat of the car, Lindy Jones, 41, was charged with a number of gun crimes related to the shooting.
Both men had lengthy criminal histories. Mr. Jones was arrested on a gun charge last year and had spent time in prison for first-degree robbery and attempted murder, according to the police and State Corrections Department records. Mr. Rivera had at least 21 prior arrests, the police said.
“These are bad people who are doing bad things to good people,” Mayor Eric Adams said at a news conference on Tuesday. “It’s the good guys against the bad guys. And we have to recognize that.”
The charges against Mr. Rivera were announced on the day of Officer Diller’s wake on Long Island. Hundreds of his family members and fellow police officers were expected to attend, as well as Mayor Adams and former President Donald J. Trump.
