Authorities have a convicted felon in custody in connection with a series of New York City shootings that killed two people -- including a 17-year-old girl -- and wounded a third in less than 16 hours, prompting an all-out manhunt that had helicopters whirring over Brooklyn overnight, two officials and sources with knowledge of the case said Tuesday.
Suspect Sundance Oliver was apprehended after he turned himself at 7 a.m. on Tuesday at a police precinct without the weapon used in the crimes, according to NYPD Police Commissioner Keechant Sewell and NYPD Chief of Detectives James Essig. Helicopters were spotted in Crown Heights amid the manhunt earlier in the morning.
Police had released a photo of Oliver once they connected Monday's shootings, warning the public to consider the still-on-the-loose gunman armed and extremely dangerous.
"Early this morning Sundance Oliver, the suspect in two homicides and another non-fatal shooting, was arrested by members of the New York City Police Department. We searched for him yesterday morning after he was identified as the suspect in the shooting of a 96-year-old man in a wheelchair during an attempted robbery of another individual in Crown Heights. Our search intensified as he became the prime suspect in a homicide in Lower Manhattan yesterday afternoon and then another fatal shooting in Brooklyn shortly after midnight. With the dragnet pulling tighter, Oliver turned himself in to officers in the 77th Precinct," Sewell said in a Tuesday afternoon press conference.
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Cops believe the 28-year-old is responsible for three shootings; the two people he allegedly murdered were associates of his, while the third victim appears to have been an innocent bystander in an attack on yet another associate.
According to police, the first shooting around 9:30 a.m. Monday started as a robbery at a playground outside NYCHA's Kingsborough Houses near Bergen Street and Rochester Avenue in Crown Heights.
A man robbed a 39-year-old woman of her phone and jacket, and as she ran away from the gunman, he pulled out the firearm and shot at her. The bullet missed the woman but struck a 96-year-old man in a wheelchair at a bus stop a half-block away, police said. The victim, Sandy Dewalt, was taken to the hospital with a bullet to the leg and is expected to be OK.
"He could have shot me in the head. I could have been killed," Dewalt said on Tuesday.
After the shooting, police sources said that the suspect, later identified as Oliver, was known to law enforcement and lived nearby. He also knew the woman he had allegedly robbed, and it wasn't a random act of violence, sources said.
After taking off from that scene, police said Oliver shot and killed a 21-year-old man in Lower Manhattan. It happened at another NYCHA complex, the Smith Houses on St. James Place. That victim, who was shot multiple times in the chest, was pronounced dead at a hospital. He has been identified as Kevon Langston, of Columbus Avenue.
Oliver and Langston knew each other, but how the pair knew each other was not known. The shooting spree stretched into the overnight hours, and the third claimed the life of a 17-year-old girl at the Kingsborough Houses on Atlantic Avenue just after midnight, cops said. She had been shot in the chest and was pronounced dead at a hospital around 12:45 a.m. Tuesday, officials said.
It was not clear how Oliver knew his youngest victim, identified as Keyaira Rattray-Brothers. Her mother said she was looking forward to continuing her education.
"Keyaira had a bright future. The goal was to finish high school and get to college," said mother Tasha Rattray, through tears. "My baby is gone. He’s locked up and he’s still breathing. And I just hope he pays for it."
No details on possible charges against him were immediately available early Tuesday, nor was it clear if he had retained an attorney. Oliver was undergoing a psychiatric evaluation while in police custody.
"The subject has been arrested several times in the past," Sewell said in Tuesday's press conference. "Today we begin the process of holding this brazen offender accountable for his actions, and delivering justice for his victims, his family and loved ones."
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Who Is Sundance Oliver?
Oliver has an extensive criminal history with nearly three dozen arrests for crimes involving weapons, robberies, drugs and guns over the last decade, police records indicate. Almost half of his 31 arrests involve felonies, sources say.
Police say he has ties to a gang that go back years.
“We have him identified about 10 years ago as a gang member, the P-D gang was a robbery crew who operated in and around Kings County,” said NYPD Chief Essig.
Police records show Oliver had been out on parole after serving prison time for a first-degree robbery conviction. He was released from jail in July 2020 and had been expected to stay under supervision until at least March 2023, according to police records.
Oliver's last known address was on South Street in Manhattan, police sources say, though he has had permanent addresses listed for him in each of New York City's five boroughs at various points since 2010.
The NYPD had Oliver on their radar recently as well. In the two weeks prior to the shootings, police said he had been a part of three other violent robberies.
His recent violent spree started as far back as Nov. 21, according to police, who said he was part of a group who robbed a man of more than $4,000 at that time. Days later on Dec. 3, police said Oliver punched his girlfriend in the face. The next day – he allegedly pointed a gun at a man and robs him before he shot into a bodega and stole all the cash from the register, police said.
