Top NYPD brass divulged more disturbing details Tuesday afternoon regarding the alleged shooter who went on a killing spree over a 24-hour period.
Police Commissioner Keechant Sewell began by thanking the media and public for playing an integral role in the apprehension of alleged double homicide perpetrator Sundance Oliver, 28.
Sewell says she believes Oliver, who turned himself in to the 77th Precinct at 7 a.m. on Dec. 6, surrendered because he knew the walls of the law were closing in on him, and he had nowhere left to run.
“With the dragnet pulling tighter, Oliver turned himself in to officers in the 77th Precinct,” Sewell said. “This subject has been arrested several times in the past. 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.”
After surrendering himself to the 77th Precinct, Chief of Detectives James Essig told amNewYork Metro that Oliver had a massive violent outburst inside of the jail house, forcing cops to overpower him and admit him to Kings County Hospital.
“He was agitated, violent. He picked up and broke some chairs and benches and he was subdued by emergency services,” Essig explained.
Dark details regarding Oliver’s past also became apparent in the hours since his arrest. According to Chief Essig, Oliver is known to police as a member of the Petey gang, a criminal sect that operates in and around the Kingsborough Houses, of which he has an affiliation dating back a decade.
Police also revealed that Oliver has an extensive criminal background, having been cuffed at least 12 times in the past and charged with menacing and attempted murder.
In 2010, he was arrested for gang assault; two years later, in 2012, he was cuffed for criminal possession of a weapon.
The next year, 2013, Oliver was sentenced to six years in prison.
Oliver was allegedly active in crime recently, police sources said, and identified for a robbery just last month on Nov. 21 during which he and four other suspects allegedly stole $4,450 in cash from a man.
Oliver was also reportedly on the receiving end of gun violence Chief Essig confirmed. On Dec. 2, Oliver was allegedly shot at while he was inside a moving vehicle at 444 Ralph Ave. allegedly by a suspect later identified as Brandon Hampton, who was cuffed for reckless endangerment.
But that incident, in which Oliver wasn’t injured, apparently led to a deluge of violence in the days that followed.
One day later, during the early hours of Dec. 3, Oliver apparently began his rampage by punching his girlfriend in the face in the Bronx, causing her serious injuries. A day later, on Dec. 4 at 8 p.m., he allegedly robbed a bodega at 444 Ralph Ave. — the same location where he was shot at two days prior.
Then came Dec. 5, when Oliver allegedly went on a deadly shooting spree. After seriously wounding a 96-year-old wheelchair-bound man while attempting to shoot someone during an apparent robbery attempt in Brooklyn, police sources said, Oliver allegedly killed 21-year-old Kevon Langston on the Lower East Side, and later 17-year-old Keyaira Rattray.
Chief Essig said that Oliver apparently knew Langston and did not force his way into the apartment at Governor Alfred Smith Houses, located at 15 St. James Place. Police said Langston and Oliver were friends.
Oliver has been charged thus far with three counts of second-degree robbery, murder, attempted murder, assault, menacing, and reckless endangerment; additional charges, are pending the results of the ongoing investigation.
The weapons in the crimes have not been recovered, police said.
