RALEIGH, N.C. (WNCN) — A deadly 24 hours in Raleigh saw two men die and four other people get injured. Family members said one of the men killed was a 33-year-old father of three.
“You took my best friend away from me and I miss him so much,” said Janya Handon, who is the victim’s 12-year-old cousin.
Family members identified the man killed as George Burnette.
“You don’t know what the kids are suffering without a dad,” Janya said.
Family members said Burnette was a husband and father of three: two girls and a boy. His family came together Monday to remember him.
Burnette was at his cousin’s birthday party at Club 30 Plus on Rush Street early Sunday morning when family members said he was stabbed to death.
“It brought a lot of people together who hadn’t been together in so long. So many people that came had never stepped foot in this club before. We’re in shock. Basically, we’re in shock,” his cousin said.
It was just one of four violent incidents in Raleigh in less than 24 hours. It started with a shooting at the Fiddle Stix gas station on Capital Boulevard just after midnight. Then, around 1:30 a.m., Burnette was one of three men stabbed at Club 30 Plus. Less than an hour later, a man was shot and killed on Crest Street off Varsity Drive. Finally, around 8:30 p.m., a man was shot on South Saunders Street.
“The police department is doing a lot. But the police department can’t do this alone. So, it takes a concerted effort of the greater community,” said Raleigh Police Chief Cassandra Deck-Brown
There have been 29 homicides in Raleigh in 2019, 17 in 2018, and 27 in 2017. The number of non-fatal shootings is on the decline.
“It’s a life. It’s more than a number on a piece of paper,” Deck-Brown said.
She’s asking anyone with information on any of these incidents to give police a call.
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