What happened Monday night to local cab driver Macedonia Gallman was horrible and unconscionable. As a community we are stunned and dismayed by the actions of two men, as yet to be found, who were picked up by Gallman and then proceeded to shoot the driver and leave him in a ditch in critical condition. Also as a community, we should be grateful that Gallman’s employer, C&C Commute, is putting in extra security for its nighttime drivers, and not giving up the round-the-clock service.

Driving taxis can be a dangerous job, as you never know who will climb into that backseat—and nighttime driving is likely the most risky. However, C&C is the only cab service doing 24-hour-a-day driving in the area, and if the company gives it up it could be disastrous for many second- and third-shift workers who rely on cabs for transportation. And what about someone leaving a bar at closing, not in any condition to drive, but without a cab company to call? What horrible choice would they make?

Willie Cromer, the owner of C&C Commute, says he is adding cameras to his nighttime cabs and each passenger at that time will have to allow a photo of their face as they enter the vehicle, or give up the ride. In addition, nighttime cabbies will now have partners while driving C&C taxis.

Thankfully, what happened Monday night is still an isolated occurrence in Newberry County. But it is patently obvious that as the years pass, people are more and more willing to commit crimes for less reward and have a decreasing respect for traditional social boundaries when it comes to crime. Case in point, the group of young people who recently went on a spree robbing churches around the Midlands.

Hopefully what happened to Macedonia Gallman will continue to be extremely rare in our area, because for every two men willing to shoot a man and leave him by the side of the road, there are hundreds of law-abiding residents just looking for a ride.