NYC shooting spree suspect linked to several crimes prior to bloodshed, police say
CROWN HEIGHTS, Brooklyn (PIX11) --- The man who allegedly killed two people and injured another during a shooting spree across New York City was connected to a string of other crimes prior to the bloody rampage, authorities said.
Sundance Oliver, 28, was arrested Tuesday for allegedly shooting three people, two fatally, in Manhattan and Brooklyn after an intense manhunt. Oliver turned himself in at the 77th Precinct in Crown Heights.
Oliver spent September of 2020 until March of 2022 in jail while another case was pending, sources said. He was set free when the charge was dropped.
After his Tuesday arrest, Oliver was allegedly agitated in the holding cell broke some benches, police said. He was subdued by emergency personnel and taken to the hospital for evaluation.
Prior to the shooting spree, Oliver and four other accomplices allegedly robbed a man in Brooklyn on Nov. 21, police said. Oliver and the other suspects allegedly attacked the victim and stole $4,450 in cash. The four accomplices remained at large, police said.
On Friday, officials said they arrested a man for firing shots at a moving vehicle in front of a bodega at 444 Ralph Ave. in Brooklyn. Authorities believed Oliver was in that vehicle, according to NYPD Chief of Detectives James Essig.
Oliver then allegedly punched his girlfriend in the face during an argument in the Bronx on Saturday, Essig said. Officials said the incident occurred on Third Avenue at around 1:45 a.m.
The following day, Oliver allegedly robbed someone outside the same bodega on Ralph Avenue at around 8 p.m. When the victim ran into the store, Oliver allegedly fired two shots before going behind the counter and stealing $3,560, and fleeing, Essing said. Two shell casings were found at the scene.
On Monday, the bloodshed began.
Oliver allegedly tried to rob the girlfriend of the man who was arrested for firings shots at the moving car. That incident occurred near the Kinsgborough Houses at around 9:30 a.m. Monday. Oliver allegedly asked the woman for $50 and fired two shots when she ran, striking a 96-year-old man in the leg at the corner of Rochester Avenue, police said. The innocent bystander was taken to the hospital in stable condition. The woman was not hit.
Later that day, Oliver allegedly fatally shot a 20-year-old man in an apartment in the Smith Houses in Manhattan at around 2:40 p.m., Essig said. Seven shell casings were recovered at the scene, police said.
In what's believed to be the final incident, Oliver allegedly shot a Keyaira Rattray, 17, in the chest inside an apartment in NYCHA’s Kingsborough Houses at 12:10 a.m. Tuesday, Essig said. She was rushed to an area hospital after the shooting around midnight, but could not be saved.
Essig said Oliver knew both homicide victims but the motive remained unclear.
Oliver was charged with three counts of robbery and attempted murder for the shooting of the 96-year-old bystander, police said. He was also charged with murder, attempted murder, robbery, assault, menacing, criminal possession of a weapon in the second degree, reckless endangerment and criminal possession of stolen property in connection with the shooting of Rattray.
Oliver has 12 prior arrests and is part of a known robbery crew, police said.