Shooters' owner fed up with disrespectful students

In a moment of frustration, the owner of Shooters Saloon in Durham took to Facebook to express her annoyance with — and ultimately ban — UNC students from the business.

“So at this point going forward, my business, my license, my employees can’t risk everything by letting y’all in,” Kim Cates, the owner, wrote in an all-caps post.

She said students have brought liquor bottles and flasks into Shooters, a popular club that Duke University and UNC students frequent.

“I don’t mind them coming to the club as long as they respect my rules, respect my employees, respect me and respect the police officers standing there,” Cates said.

But she said UNC students are still allowed in Shooters. She said she didn’t mean for it to come across as scolding UNC as a whole, and has since deleted the original post.

Still, students are speculating on Facebook if they’re allowed in or not.

Shooters serves primarily Duke students. Cates has four police officers working every day of the week at the club and said she trains her staff to be polite. While she said it is not exclusive to Duke students, she said she does not see the same problems from Duke students as she does from UNC students.

“Duke students listen to me and don’t disrespect me or my employees,” Cates said. “If Duke students watched what happened the other night — I don’t want them to think it’s OK not to listen to authority.”

Many UNC students responded in the comments sections on the post, with the majority of the comments being negative.

“I regret that I wrote the first post because I was still angry at the time, but it did prove a point to me and those people showed themselves again,” Cates said.

Cates said she has no rules posted in or outside the club because she said they are all common sense. She did not mention requiring Duke ID cards for entrance.

UNC sophomore Jonathan Buechner said the first time he visited, he was charged $5 and then $10 several other times — specifically if he did not have a Duke ID.

“As soon as they realize you’re from UNC, they treat you significantly different,” Buechner said.

UNC sophomore Rachel Lempp said she went to Shooters for the first and only time earlier this semester. She was meeting a friend, who attends Duke, and said she had trouble getting in because she was a UNC student.

Lempp said the bouncers, staff and Cates were polite for the most part.

Cates said she has met UNC students who are respectful and her post was not meant for them. She apologized on Facebook for her first post.

“We can all get along and have fun without being disrespectful and doing things we know are not correct,” she said.

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