Family grieves man shot, killed in Winston-Salem inside Burke Street Pub

WINSTON-SALEM, N.C. (WGHP) — FOX8 is diving deeper into who the victims are in the shooting at Burke Street Pub in Winston-Salem.

The victims didn’t know each other but were having a good time with friends when a man fired shots from the street.

Usually on Thursday nights, the doors would be open, and people would be going inside to have a good time. Instead, the doors were shut, and the business was closed.

The two victims were in the line of fire, but neither was the intended target. The surviving woman is trying to figure out how to move forward for this traumatic experience, while another  family is mourning the loss of a wonderful son, brother and uncle.

Kane Bowen was a talented musician, someone who loved to travel, a friend to all and a person who lived life to the beat of his own banjo.

The family of the 30-year-old said he could pick up any instrument and play it on the spot. His contagious smile and big heart are things his sister will miss most about her brother.

His life was taken early Thursday morning when bullets were fired into Burke Street Pub. Winston-Salem police said the person accused in the shooting is 74-year-old William Drake. Officers said the gunfire was intended for someone else inside the pub. Instead, it hit Bowen and 22-year-old Makenzie Dalton.

“A few moments after the shots were fired, I felt…burn in my arm, and I lifted up my sleeve, and I was like…’I got hurt, but that’s not really my concern right now,'” Dalton said. “My concern is staying alive.”

Dalton showed FOX8 her bandages covering up the wound where a bullet grazed her left arm. She’s thankful the injury isn’t worse.

“If I was a just a hair over to the left…I wouldn’t be here right now, and that that’s really, really, really hard for me to swallow,” she said.

What’s even harder to swallow are the images from Thursday morning Dalton replays in her mind.

“Last night, I couldn’t even close my eyes without seeing him…just laying there,” she said. “I feel really depressed. I feel scared. I don’t feel safe. I don’t even want to leave my apartment.”

Now, she and the family and friends Bowen left behind have to figure out how to move on from this, knowing they’ll never understand why it had to happen.

“Why did you do this?” Dalton said. “You’ve lived a long life, and you want to take somebody who’s just now gotten started…because you you feel some type of way about somebody that’s inside the bar…why?”

On Friday evening, friends and loved ones of Bowen will gather for a memorial in his honor. It will be at Big Winston Warehouse at 5:30 p.m.