NEW YORK – Authorities said they have a man in custody in connection with a series of shootings in New York City, two of which killed two people and a third that injured another victim, in less than 4:00 p.m., two officials with direct knowledge of the case said Tuesday.
It was not immediately clear where or how the suspect Sundance Oliver was taken into custody, but helicopters were seen over Brooklyn in the midst of the chase earlier in the morning. Police had released a photo of Oliver after they connected Monday’s shootings, warning the public to consider the still-at-loose gunman armed and extremely dangerous.
Police believe he 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 another associate.
According to police, the first shooting around 9:30 a.m. Monday began as a robbery at a playground outside NYCHA’s Kingsborough Houses near Bergen Street and Rochester Avenue in Crown Heights.
A man stole a 39-year-old woman’s phone and jacket, and as she was running from the attacker, he drew his firearm and shot her. The bullet missed the woman but struck a 96-year-old man in a wheelchair at a bus stop half a block away, police said. The victim was taken to the hospital with a bullet in the leg and is expected to recover.
After the shooting, police sources said the suspect, later identified as Oliver, was known to police and lived nearby. He also knows the woman he allegedly robbed, and it wasn’t a random act of violence.
After fleeing that scene, police said the same suspect shot and killed a man in Lower Manhattan just hours later. A 21-year-old man was shot multiple times in the chest and leg around 3 pm at another NYCHA complex, Smith Houses on St. James Place.
The victim was taken to Bellevue Hospital, where he died.
The third shooting occurred just before midnight at the Kingsborough Houses in Brooklyn. A woman was shot in the chest and later died at a hospital.
Law enforcement sources said Oliver has a criminal record involving weapons, robberies and pistols.
No details were immediately available about the possible charges against him early Tuesday, nor was it clear if he had retained an attorney.