Assistant Chief of Police David L. Buckshot McIver, 47, of the Swansea Police Department, was killed on June 7, 1979, after responding to a single-vehicle crash on a Lexington County road. McIver was at a service station when he witnessed a car lose control and enter a ditch; the vehicle’s four occupants had already committed a robbery before the crash. Approaching the wreck to check on occupants and take control, McIver was attacked by the four people and his service handgun was taken. During the struggle he was shot with his own weapon and died from the wound.

Officers from surrounding agencies responded, and four suspects were taken into custody in connection with his death. At least one of the defendants was later recorded as receiving a life sentence. McIver is listed on memorial rolls for officers killed in the line of duty and is buried at Ebenezer United Methodist Church cemetery outside Swansea.

Does anyone have photographs, newspaper clippings, or local recollections that shed more light on the events that day or the investigation that followed?