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Surveillance video released in the wake of this ambush shows the terrifying reality Greenville law-abiding Americans have feared: a suspect pulled up to the Greenville County Law Enforcement Center, aimed at an officer sitting in a marked patrol car and opened fire in what officials are calling an “ambush-style” attack. The officer was struck and rushed to Greenville Memorial Hospital, but was later released and is recovering at home. State investigators with SLED have taken over the probe and the chilling footage has made clear that this was a deliberate, targeted act, not a random act of chaos.
What makes the footage even more disturbing are the visible sparks and flashes when the gunfire hits the patrol cruiser — evidence investigators say points to incendiary rounds designed to cause additional damage and terror. Those rounds, which create a dramatic “fireworks” effect on camera, are built to ignite on exposure and can turn a shooting into an inferno in an instant. Citizens need to see the danger on display: this wasn’t simply bullets on metal, it was an effort to maximize injury and destruction.
Authorities have identified the suspect as 42-year-old David William Lane of Greenville, and the situation ended after a pursuit and multiple exchanges of gunfire that concluded with the suspect’s death, later ruled a self-inflicted gunshot wound. Deputies located the vehicle shortly after the ambush and engaged, and the swift but violent chain of events that followed is now under the microscope of state investigators. For families of officers and every taxpayer who expects public safety, these facts demand answers about motive and how someone walked up to a police facility with that intent.
Greenville officials say the injured officer is expected to recover, and the city has pledged full cooperation with SLED’s investigation as the community demands transparency. Law enforcement did what citizens ask them to do: respond, pursue, and neutralize a clear threat — and now the public deserves to know how and why this happened on the grounds of a law enforcement complex. If we value those who risk everything to keep us safe, we must insist on a thorough, unvarnished accounting of the facts.
There’s also a policy angle that can’t be ignored: incendiary ammunition is legal in South Carolina and can be purchased online, even though several states and Washington, D.C., have banned it because of the unique fire hazard it poses. Conservatives should never reflexively surrender the Second Amendment, but common-sense measures and sensible oversight that make it harder for killers to escalate violence should be on the table. Law-abiding gun owners and officers alike deserve laws that protect communities without eroding constitutional rights.
This ambush should be a wake-up call to local leaders and prosecutors who have grown soft on crime: rhetoric and leniency invite violence, and when an officer is targeted on the job it undermines every ounce of public safety. Demand accountability from those who set the environment in which such attacks become more likely, and support the men and women who stand between order and chaos. The SLED investigation must be swift and transparent, and elected officials need to prioritize officer safety and the rule of law over political correctness.
