Fort Myers club shooting not terror, police say

Adolescents as young as 12 had gathered at a Fort Myers, Florida, nightclub for a swimsuit-themed party Sunday night at what was billed as a safe event for teens with plenty of security.

But by early Monday, two clubgoers had been fatally shot and 20 others injured after gunfire rang out in the nightclub parking lot.

Coming a little more than a month after 49 people were killed in a deadly terrorist attack on a gay nightclub in Orlando, police were quick to rule out terrorism as the motive in Monday’s shooting.

“This was not an act of terror; this was not a terrorist act,” Fort Myers interim Police Chief Dennis Eads said at a news conference Monday. “You can put that out of your mind.”

Three people were arrested to be questioned in the incident, but authorities declined to say little else about what triggered the violence.

As police continue to investigate the shooting, which broke out around 12:30 a.m. Monday in the parking lot of Club Blu, they identified the two who were killed as Stef’an Strawder, 18, and Sean Archilles, 14.

A statement posted Monday on Club Blu’s Facebook page said the shooting happened as parents were arriving to pick their children up from the party and that armed security had been present at the event.

“We are deeply sorry for all involved. We tried to give teens what we thought was a safe place to have a good time,” the statement read. “There was nothing more we could [have] done as you see it was not kids at the party that did this despicable act.”

Club Blu is located in a strip mall that includes a day care center and sits across the street from a large apartment complex. Online records from the state Department of Business and Professional Regulation say the club’s license was revoked on June 7 because of an incident that occurred a year ago. No other details were available. The same records show that a complaint was filed in 2014 for “criminal activity” and that the club was given an official notice.

Three people who were injured in the shooting remained hospitalized Monday morning, according to a spokeswoman for Lee Memorial Health System. Many of the victims drove themselves to local hospitals or were taken by means other than ambulance, according to police. The victims ranged in age from 12 to 27, with an owner of Club Blu adding that one of the security guards working the event was among those shot.

“We did everything we could to make sure these kids were safe,” Club Blu co-owner Cheryl Filardi told the News-Press. “There was nothing we could do a car rolled up and just started shooting.”

Brandy Mclaughlin, who was working security for the event, told The Associated Press that the gunman wasn’t targeting anyone in particular but rather spraying bullets in the vicinity of the club.

“It was an idiot, an idiot with a firearm,” she said, adding that her girlfriend Terry Parnell, who was also part of the security detail that night, was shot and wounded.

Florida Gov. Rick Scott fended off potential calls for gun control in the wake of the shooting at a news conference held Monday.

“I support the Second Amendment. The Second Amendment has never shot anybody. Evil does this,” said Mr. Scott.

The Republican governor urged community members to work together and to be aware of their surroundings to prevent any violence.

“We have to all work together,” he said. If you see something, you’ve got to say something. You need to be very supportive of your law enforcement. You need to be appreciative that law enforcement is willing to show up.”

Syreeta Gary told WFTX-TV her daughter ran and dodged bullets to avoid being shot. Her daughter was OK, but her daughter’s friend “got hit in the leg, and luckily, it’s just her leg,” she said.

“Her dodging bullets and running, dropping in between cars, it’s ridiculous that these kids have to go through this,” Ms. Gary said. “They can’t enjoy themselves because you have other people that have criminalistic minds, and they just want to terrorize things.”

• This article is based in part on wire service reports.