Deputies Cleared in Shooting Death

Two Greenville County Sheriff's deputies who shot and killed a suspect who had shot a fellow deputy in the leg have been cleared in the incident and returned to work by Sheriff Steve Loftis, the GCSO announced Thursday.

Following a routine internal investigation into the Aug. 13 incident, Loftis announced that deputies David Picone and Suzanne Sarra followed all sheriff's office policies and procedures and were put back on full, active duty Aug. 24.

followed directly on the heels of another fatal shooting. Just a few hours earlier that fateful morning, another GCSO deputy shot and killed a suicidal man who had threatened deputies with a rifle.



"I've been with the department since 1977," Loftis said that day. "I don't remember ever having two shootings like this in one day with officers involved…. I don't think I've ever seen a day like today."

In the Red Roof Inn shooting, deputies had responded to the hotel in response to a reported rape — which the GCSO determined a few days later never happened — and encountered suspect Anthony Lee Lamboy, who fit the bogus rape victim's physical description.

According to the GCSO's review of the incident, deputies attempted to place Lamboy under arrest after a warrants check determined he was wanted by Greenwood County authorities for resisting arrest with a deadly weapon and two charges of malicious injury to personal property.

However, Lamboy violently resisted efforts to take him into custody and began a violent struggle with deputies. Lamboy, the report said, was able to get his hands on Deputy Lackey's holstered gun and shoot the deputy in the leg. In response, Deputy Piccone shot Lamboy four times, and Sarra shot once, killing Lamboy.

Deputy Lackey, who lost a tremendous amount of blood in the shooting, was tended to by three other deputies who responded to the scene before EMS arrived. Lackey was later transported to an area hospital for surgery and is expected to fully recover. 

Note: A fuller recounting of the incident can be found in the attached PDF file.

Meanwhile, the woman who made the false rape report that precipitated the fatal incident, 21-year-old Sabrina Michelle Smith (pictured above at left), was arrested for the crime of filing a false police report on Aug. 16. She has since been released from the Greenville County Detention Center on a $5,000 bond.