Hiring guys like this you mean?
"Suspect that fired at Suffolk County police was working to become a police officer"
September 8, 2013 by TANIA LOPEZ AND LAUREN R. HARRISON / tania.lopez@newsday.com, lauren.harrison@newsday.com
Shalece Cunningham, left, 24, of Bay Shore, was
The man charged with the fatal shooting of a woman inside a Bohemia motel who then fired at Suffolk County police was working to become a police officer and had no criminal record, his attorney said Sunday as Stoker Olukotun Williams was ordered held without bond.
Joseph A. Hanshe, of Sayville, entered a plea of not guilty on his client's behalf and told the court that Olukotun Williams, a driver for Frito Lay, had completed 60 credits of criminal justice courses at Suffolk County Community College and recently passed the test to become a police officer.
"He was on the list to be examined medically for that position," Hanshe said. "He's a well-educated, articulate man. Much has got to be investigated before anything is resolved on this case."
Olukotun Williams, 24, of Bay Shore, was charged with second-degree murder and first-degree attempted murder in the Saturday attack, police said. He was arraigned Sunday at First District Court in Central Islip and is scheduled to appear in court Thursday.
Police officers responding to a call about shots fired at a motel went to the MacArthur Inn, 4444 Veterans Memorial Hwy. When the officers went to the room and knocked, a man opened the door and started firing at them with a handgun, said Det. Lt. Jack Fitzpatrick, homicide unit commander.
The Fifth Precinct officers, whose names were not released, ducked for cover behind cars in the parking lot and returned fire. The suspect fled and was captured in a wooded area after a brief pursuit, Fitzpatrick said.
Inside the room, police found Shalece Cunningham, 24, shot in the head. Two female acquaintances of Cunningham were also in the room, but they were unharmed, police said.
Olukotun Williams was treated for an arm wound at Brookhaven Memorial Hospital Medical Center in East Patchogue.
An NYPD spokesman said Sunday he could not confirm whether Williams had taken the police exam and referred questions to the Department of Citywide Administrative Services, which administers the test. A spokeswoman for the department did not immediately respond to requests for information.
Robert Biancavilla, deputy chief of the homicide bureau in the Suffolk County District Attorney's office, said Sunday that it was not clear what led to the shooting or what relationship Cunningham had with Olukotun Williams, if any.
"We believe there was criminal activity going on in that room," Fitzpatrick said on Saturday without elaborating.
The motel, which advertises "day rates" and "mirrored rooms," is about a mile from Long Island MacArthur Airport.
Prosecutors plan to present their case to the grand jury before Thursday, Biancavilla said.
Olukotun Williams' mother, aunt and girlfriend attended the arraignment, but declined to comment.
Shalece Cunningham's mother was overcome with grief Sunday.
"She is my only daughter. I have two sons and just her," said Alvina Cunningham of Bay Shore, crying and gasping for breath as she spoke in a telephone interview.
Alvina Cunningham said she did not know Williams or how her daughter may have known him.
Shalece Cunningham attended Bay Shore schools and lived at home with her mother and father, Alvina Cunningham said.
"She was studying and she was going to go into the child care course and go to Suffolk [County Community College]," said Cunningham through tears.
Cunningham said she last spoke with her daughter on Tuesday. "I had given her a few dollars because her father's birthday was this Wednesday," she said, noting that her own birthday was later this month. "So we're trying to figure out how to bury our child in between our birthdays."
With Nicole Fuller, Candice Ferrette and Scott Eidler