Officer John Jack Jantzen, 32, of Yaphank, New York, was fatally shot on April 21, 1991, after intervening in a hostage situation at a restaurant at Middle Country Road and Stony Brook Road. The off-duty Suffolk County Police officer entered the restaurant where a man was holding his wife and a restaurant employee at gunpoint with a 12-gauge shotgun. Jantzen attempted to de-escalate the situation and was shot and killed when the gunman opened fire. The assailant then murdered his wife and the restaurant employee before fleeing; he was later captured.

Jantzen had served six years on the Suffolk County force. He was survived by his wife and son, who later became a Suffolk County Police Officer. The first officer on scene was Jantzen’s brother, also a Suffolk County Police Department member.

If anyone was in that area on April 21, 1991, or has information about the incident, please share what is known.