The individual accused of fatally shooting NYPD officer Jonathan Diller was reportedly seen smiling in police body camera footage shortly after the incident, according to testimony from one of Diller’s colleagues.
During a court session in Queens on Wednesday, NYPD Detective Derval Whyte took the stand and emotionally recounted witnessing his friend’s shooting during a routine traffic stop in March 2024. “I watched my friend get shot for no reason,” Whyte stated, as reported by the New York Post.
Describing Diller’s condition, Whyte said, “He was lying on his back and was motionless. I heard him say, ‘I’ve been shot.’ I checked him over to find the wound, rolling him to locate the bullet entry just above his stomach.”
The court viewed footage from body cameras showing officers’ desperate attempts to save Diller immediately following the shooting. The video also captured an individual in handcuffs on the ground who appeared to be smiling, according to reports.
Guy Rivera, the suspect on trial for the shooting death of Officer Jonathan Diller, listened to opening statements as his trial commenced at Queens Criminal Court in the Kew Gardens area on March 10, 2026. (Dave Sanders/Pool/The New York Times)
When asked to comment on the footage, Whyte remarked, “That’s the defendant. He seems to be smiling.”
Diller, a 31-year-old married father, was inspecting a suspicious vehicle parked outside a T-Mobile store in Far Rockaway on March 25, 2024, when 35-year-old Guy Rivera, who was seated in the passenger seat, allegedly fired three rounds at the officer, striking him in the stomach.
Rivera, a career criminal with nearly two dozen prior arrests, according to police, pleaded not guilty to first-degree murder charges after prosecutors said he gunned down Diller.
Assistant District Attorney Ken Zawistowski described the fatal encounter during the trial’s opening statements last week.
“[Rivera] took out his gun and pointed it at officer Diller,” Zawistowski said.
Stephanie Diller, widow of slain NYPD Officer Jonathan Diller, becomes emotional as she attends her husband’s murder trial. (Fox News)
“He shot officer Diller underneath his bulletproof vest, causing his intestines to be ripped through and causing his iliac artery to be severed — one of the body’s most vital arteries,” Zawistowski continued.
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