The gunfire rang out just as family members were picking up their kids from Club Blu in Fort Myers, where the “no ID required” party had just finished.
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Florida Gov. Rick Scott canceled his scheduled events Monday and traveled to Fort Myers to meet with law-enforcement and local officials.
“Investigators are working very hard to determine a motive and answer numerous questions you have submitted”, said an earlier police statement.
Police say two teenagers – Sean Archilles, 14, and Stef’an Strawder, 18 – were killed.
Strawder, who went by the nickname Dee, was a star player at Lehigh Senior High School who would have been a senior in the fall and aspired to play college ball.
Fort Myers police said they have confirmed that the shooting was not an act of terror. She said two guards were in the parking lot, one or two at the door and the rest floating inside. “12 year olds usually don’t have a student ID”. “He would guide you and give you advice on how to step up your game and how to guard him and things like that”, said 16-year-old Peyton Hebon, who started playing against Strawder in travel basketball leagues in sixth grade.
Witnesses said multiple gunmen opened fire at about 12:30 a.m. outside the nightclub, Club Blu, in a palm-tree-lined strip mall in Fort Myers.
Lawrence questioned why a teen night would be held at a nightclub, or why parents would allow such young children to be out that late. “These days in Lee County, somebody’s always shooting”, Filardi said.
Although beer posters still hung in its windows, Club Blu’s alcohol license was revoked on June 7 because of issues related to its business records, regulators said.
At least three people have been detained after a shooting at a nightclub in the southeastern USA state of Florida that left two people dead.
Four people remained hospitalized Monday morning, including two in the intensive care unit, said Cherly Garn, a spokeswoman for Lee Memorial Health System, in an email.
A promoter for the club emphasized the shooting did not happen inside, but took place after the party that began on Sunday night wrapped up and teenagers were getting picked up by parents. The event didn’t require ID and was meant for kids between the ages of 12 and 17.
All of the other patients were treated and released. “There were kids. The kid I was holding in my lap, he was 14 years old that got shot”, Tatianna Nouhaioi, a neighbor, told ABC News.
Police said officers were “actively canvassing the area looking for other persons who may be involved in this incident”, according to a statement obtained by NBC.
The same records also show a complaint was filed in 2014 for “criminal activity” and that the club was given an official notice. “I thank God she’s all right, she had to get between the cars to dodge the bullets”, Syreeta Gary said.
Stephanie White clutches a stack of photos as images of her slain son air on television news accounts of a deadly nightclub shooting in Florida.
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The shooting comes just six weeks after a gunman killed 49 people at a gay club in the state the worst massacre on USA soil since 9/11.
