ORANGEBURG, S.C. (WJBF) — A Bamberg family is searching for answers after a beloved husband and father was shot and killed at an Orangeburg gas station nearly two weeks ago. “It was hard for me to see my husband take his last breath,” Latoya Manigault-Caldwell said. George Christopher Caldwell’s wife Latoya told us he was a hardworking, devoted family man, often holding two jobs. “Friday and Saturday, he would always make it possible to go and visit his parents, which they live in Orangeburg, South Carolina,” she added.
On February 7, she says they were on their way to visit his parents when they stopped for gas at Dodge’s. She says a young man approached Chris, and his last word—’no’—was followed by a gunshot. “Once I got out, my husband was lying there in a puddle of blood,” she recalled. ‘He was still breathing, but when I asked him to say something to me, he could not say nothing.”
According to an incident report, investigators reviewed security footage and, despite technical issues, were able to track the suspect’s car from Xpress Travel Plaza in Orangeburg to Dodge’s. “All they told me that they have leads, that’s it. Nothing else,” Latoya said.
She told us Chris never bothered anyone. “He was always a person of giving. He never had an enemy because he would help the homeless here in Bamberg. If they would always ask, he would give, always come to him.”
We’ve reached out to the Orangeburg Department of Public Safety, but didn’t hear back. The family is still searching for closure, especially for his elderly parents. “They having their very difficult time because it’s their only son and they son was always there for them when they needed anything.”
If you have any information about this shooting, you are asked to contact the Orangeburg Department of Public Safety.
