911 calls reveal chaos in Mother's Day shooting of cyclist, suggest residents knew gunman

Emergency calls and witness statements from the Mother's Day shooting death of Greenville cyclist Whit Oliver support previous statements that residents around Legacy Park had previous interactions with the man who shot Oliver.

A flurry of 911 calls from bystanders, along with incident reports and dispatch records, help piece together a chaotic timeline of the May 9 fatal shooting in which the man fired at Oliver 10 to 12 times, according to witnesses.

The documents, obtained via the South Carolina Freedom of Information Act, show how residents scrambled to help police track down Jeffrey Mark Murray just minutes after Oliver was killed.

Murray died in an exchange of gunfire with police outside a Greenfille fire station that occurred less than 10 minutes after Oliver first dialed 911 about a confrontation he was having with Murray on a street beside Legacy Park, about a mile away.

"I think he’s still there," one witness said to a 911 operator after the first shots were fired. "He’s white. Black shirt. Blue jeans. ... Oh, God. He's still shooting him. You gotta come now."

The caller said he heard Murray and Oliver arguing and "screaming at each other." He said that Murray said he was already acquainted with Greenville police. The caller told the dispatcher it sounded as though Murray was enticing Oliver to call the police, according to the 911 call.

Callers said Murray shot Oliver in two distinct bursts, one while Oliver was on his bicycle and a second time as he lay on the ground.

Oliver was only about two blocks from his home at the time.

One caller described Murray as "a military-looking guy" with a stocky build who jumped into a dark-colored SUV. One caller said she was certain it was a Mazda CX7 as a man in the background could be heard saying, "That guy emptied like two clips in him" and, "There's a guy shooting back there, go inside!"

Another caller told police that Murray turned left out of the park and headed toward Verdae Boulevard. The fire station where Murray died was on Verdae.

Based on 911 calls and witness statements, May 9 started as a serene day for many in the area near Legacy Park and the Hollingsworth Park neighborhood. One woman enjoyed a Mother's Day brunch at Stella's Southern Brasserie. A family walked together through Legacy Park. A man cruised around neighborhood streets in a golf cart.

Other residents called police from their homes after hearing gunshots but not knowing what happened.

"What is going on?" asked one woman who called 911.

Call-taker: "Ma'am, just stay in your house we have other calls coming in. Do you need an ambulance or anything like that?"

Caller: "OK, I think everybody's OK."

Call-taker: "OK, just stay in your house. they're attempting to locate someone but stay in your house if you see or hear anything."

Another witness said he was walking with his family when they saw the confrontation and moved away from Murray and ran into a wooded area when shots were fired, according to a police incident report. A man riding a golf cart picked them up to drive them to safety, according to the report.

Bullet fragments were found around Oliver's body, and one fragment was lodged in Oliver's cell phone, according to an incident report. Another incident report said Oliver was shot in the back and the head.

More:Greenville cycling community mourns death of man shot while riding bike on Mother's Day

The police department did not release Oliver's own 911 call. According to state law, recordings of a deceased person's last statements do not have to be released by public agencies.

A neighbor told police in her statement describing events leading up to the shooting that she was familiar with Murray, whom she referred to as "the older man."

"I am familiar with this man, because I have seen him walking in the neighborhood before. This man usually makes remarks out loud and rants about not getting the vaccine," she told police.

She said she was walking her dog right before the shooting when she noticed Oliver on a bicycle circling in the roadway. She said she heard Murray say to Oliver, "So you're the one harassing me. What are you doing. Are you calling the cops?" according to a police report.

At that moment, the woman said she saw Murray retrieve a handgun from his vehicle and come within 10 feet of Oliver and say, "Yeah, I have a gun" before shooting him, the report stated.

The Greenville News has filed a request with the Greenville Police Department under the Freedom of Information Act for reports on any past calls for service involving Murray. The city has yet to release those records.

Surveillance footage from a nearby business captured the Oliver shooting. Police did not immediately release that footage.

The first 911 call came from Oliver at 10:52 a.m., according to dipatch records. In the call, Oliver told police he knew Murray, who was wearing sunglasses a black hat, a black shirt and jeans and had a history of carrying pepper spray with him.

By 10:56 a.m., dispatchers heard shots in the background and eight seconds later Oliver said he had been, according to dispatch records.

Oliver managed to give dispatchers Murray's license plate number before he was shot.

By 11:01 a.m., police officers exchanged gunfire with Murray in the parking lot of the fire station on Verdae Boulevard and Murray was shot. The State Law Enforcement Division still is investigating the shooting that involved Murray and Greenville police officers.

Oliver's family members have said Greenville police have known Murray for several years and that people in the Hollingsworth Park neighborhood have called law enforcement about Murray in the past.

Oliver once raced professionally in Europe before moving to Greenville. Since his death, community members have held fundraisers and memorial bike rides to raise money for his family.

Daniel J. Gross is an investigative watchdog reporter focusing on public safety and law enforcement for The Greenville News. Reach him at dgross@greenvillenews.com or on Twitter @danieljgross. Subscribe to The Greenville News at greenvillenews.com/subscribe.