Lexington County lost one of its own this week. Not in a gunfight, not in a pursuit — in the water, doing the training that’s supposed to bring people home alive.
Master Deputy Jillian Olson, 29, died Thursday during a dive team training exercise on Lake Murray. She’d been part of that team since 2024, on top of her regular work in the warrant division, where she’d been promoted to master deputy earlier this year.
Free — the opening chapterUnits Are SurroundedFive shootings in five months between members of the Soboba Indian Reservation and law enforcement in the Hemet area of Riverside County. My story about being in the middle of it. The full book is coming.Read how it starts
The cause of her death hasn’t been released. The Lexington County Coroner’s Office is investigating. Nobody’s put out a cause yet, and nobody should be guessing at one until its released.
Sheriff Jay Koon said it plainly: she exemplified commitment and service, and she’ll be remembered most for what she did without anyone watching.
That’s the job. Not every loss in this profession comes from a bullet. Some come from doing the training that’s supposed to keep the next call from turning into a tragedy. Olson was in the water because that’s where the work was.
Lexington County Sheriff’s Department is grieving one of their own this week. Keep her family, and the deputies who trained beside her, in your thoughts.
Rest easy, Master Deputy Olson.
Units Are Surrounded
The new book from Ray Dietrich. Five shootings in five months in Riverside County. The full book is coming - read how it starts, free.
