Salute to fallen NYPD Officer Jonathan Diller: 'He epitomized what the NYPD is all about'
MASSAPEQUA PARK, N.Y. (PIX11) – A solemn salute to one of NYPD's finest murdered in the line of duty Tuesday evening.
The police procession went from the Manhattan Medical Examiner's Office to a Massapequa Park funeral home.
Jonathan Diller's heartbroken family was there to receive his remains back home on Long Island.
"Imagine the pain of going through something as unnatural as burying a parent," Mayor Eric Adams said.
Diller's son, Ryan, is just one year old. His wife Stephanie's brother is also an NYPD member with the Harbor Unit.
"You were a good man and a great father ... I swear to you that I will look after your son as if he were my own. For the rest of my life," Jonathan McAuley wrote on Facebook.
Chris Johnson is on the Special Ops team with Diller's brother-in-law.
Johnson was in the air Monday night with the Aviation Unit, helping escort the cop caravan to Jamaica Hospital.
The 31-year-old was shot Monday in Queens during a traffic stop. Police said Guy Rivera is the suspect, who they describe as a career criminal.
"All of a sudden, Jon said, 'Oh my God, it's my brother-in-law. He's the one who got shot!'" Chris Johnson recalled.
The fellow NYPD cop felt he had to help this shattered family.
One he's celebrated good times with — at a bachelor party, a wedding, and work events.
Johnson launched a GoFundMe that quickly raised well over six figures for the Dillers.
"In the grand scheme of things, it's not a father, it's not a husband, it's not a 20-year career with a pension. All those things are gone," Johnson said.
At Diller's neighborhood in Massapequa Park, people put up blue ribbons—a town where the thin blue line runs deep.
"We're going to do whatever we can to help the family at this time," Mayor Daniel Pearl said.
As NYPD Commissioner Edward Caban made his way inside Diller's home precinct in Rosedale.
"He epitomized what the NYPD is all about hard work, sacrifices, and our hearts go out to his family," he told PIX11 News.