Wake today for NYPD Officer Jonathan Diller, shot and killed during traffic stop in Queens

NEW YORK — NYPD Officer Jonathan Diller will be remembered with a wake Thursday on Long Island. The 31-year-old was shot and killed Monday during a traffic stop in Far Rockaway, Queens. 

Former President Donald Trump was invited to attend the wake and has accepted, so there will be increased security from the secret service. CBS New York also learned Trump spoke with Diller’s widow by phone. 

The wake follows a vigil Wednesday in Diller’s hometown of Massapequa Park, where the community showed up in the rain to support the fallen officer and his family. His brother-in-law remembered him as a man who loved going to work every day.

“He was crazy about his job, he loved what he did,” said Joseph Lienhop. “He was born to be a cop, he was born to be a hero. He died being hero, he died doing what he loved.”

Diller had been with the NYPD for three years and is remembered by fellow officers as a “cop’s cop” who put others before himself and made people smile. He grew up in Franklin Square, where neighbors said he was the first to volunteer to help. He leaves behind a wife and 1-year-old son. 

This is the first of two days of visitation, and traffic is expected to be heavy. Another wake is scheduled for 2 to 4 p.m. and 7 to 9 p.m. Friday at Massapequa Funeral Home, followed by the funeral at 10:30 a.m. Saturday at St. Rose of Lima R.C. Church.