‘True hero’: Foundation to pay slain NYPD officer’s family mortgage
- NYPD officer Jonathan Diller was killed during a traffic stop
- Tunnel to Towers Foundation has vowed to pay off Diller's family mortgage
- Foundation exec: 'He was out there protecting the community'
NEW YORK (NewsNation) — As funeral services for slain New York Police Department Officer Jonathan Diller continue Friday, one organization has vowed to pay off the mortgage of the public servant’s family home.
Diller, 31, was shot and killed during a traffic stop Monday in Queens. He and his partner were shot at after they approached a vehicle illegally parked at a bus stop. Diller was hit in the torso below his bulletproof vest and later died at Jamaica Hospital.
Tunnel to Towers Foundation, an organization dedicated to helping families of fallen first responders, military and veterans, has pledged to pay off Diller’s family mortgage on their Long Island home. Diller leaves behind a wife and 1-year-old son.
“Every day Officer Diller donned his uniform, there was a risk he may not come home,” Frank Siller, the chairman and CEO of the foundation, said. “We will honor Officer Diller not only for his sacrifice but for his unwavering resolve to protect the people of New York City by ensuring his family can stay in their home, forever.”
The foundation was created in honor of New York firefighter Stephen Gerard Siller, who died while trying to rescue people during the Sept. 11, 2001, terrorist attacks. In 2014, the organization began taking care of the families of first responders killed in the line of duty, the organization’s vice president, John Huvane, said Friday on on “Morning in America.”
Huvane, also a retired NYPD detective, said Diller was “a true hero.”
“He was out there protecting the community, and he lost his life doing that,” Huvane said.
In addition to paying off Diller’s family mortgage, the Tunnel to Towers Foundation and Barstool Sports CEO Dave Portnoy have joined forces to set up an education scholarship fund for Diller’s son.
“The beautiful part is this community is getting together,” Huvane said.