John 'Jack' Jantzen, a 32-year-old Suffolk County Police Officer from Yaphank, New York, was fatally shot on April 21, 1991. The white male officer was off-duty when he entered a restaurant at the intersection of Middle Country Road and Stony Brook Road and encountered a volatile hostage situation. Inside, a man was holding his own wife and a restaurant employee at gunpoint with a 12-gauge shotgun.
Demonstrating immense bravery, Officer Jantzen attempted to intervene and de-escalate the dangerous encounter. Tragically, the gunman opened fire, striking and killing the officer. After shooting Jantzen, the assailant then murdered his wife and the restaurant employee before attempting to escape. The first law enforcement officer to arrive at the grim scene was Jantzen's own brother, also a member of the Suffolk County Police Department.
The suspect was later apprehended by law enforcement. He was subsequently charged with multiple counts of murder for the three lives he had taken. Following a trial, he was convicted on three counts of second-degree murder. The court imposed a sentence of 75 years to life in prison. His earliest possibility for parole is in the year 2066. Officer Jantzen had served on the police force for six years and was survived by his wife and son, who would go on to follow in his father's footsteps by becoming a Suffolk County Police Officer.
