MIAMI // Two people were killed and at least 17 others were wounded when a shooting broke out early on Monday in the car park of a Florida nightclub that was hosting a party for teenagers.
Police said the shooting at Club Blu in Fort Myers was not an act of terror and three people had been arrested.
Witnesses described people scattering when gunfire broke out shortly after midnight, ducking and running behind a nearby residential building, with children as young as 12 reportedly among the injured.
Police said the two people killed were a 14-year-old, Sean Archilles, and an 18-year-old, Ste’Fan Strawder.
“It was a young teen event. There were kids. The kid I was holding in my lap, he was 14 years old that got shot,” said Tatian Nouhaioi, a neighbour.
“And then there was a little girl who also got shot and she was 13. One of the security guard’s daughter got shot, so I mean there was kids 13, 14, 15, 16.”
Four of the injured were hospitalised. Two were in critical condition and two in fair condition, said Lisa Sgarlata, the chief administrative officer at Lee Memorial Health System.
She said all of the other patients were treated and released. The victims ranged in ages from 12 to 27.
Club Blu said the shooting broke out as the “Swimsuit Glow Party” was winding down and parents were picking up their children – and despite the fact there was armed security both inside and outside the venue.
“We are deeply sorry for all involved,” the club said. “We tried to give the teenagers what we thought was a safe place to have a good time.”
The Fort Myers police department said the shooting occurred at around 12.30am in the club’s car park.
The club is in a strip mall that includes a daycare centre and is across the street from a large apartment complex.
A nearby home and vehicles were also shot at, resulting in one minor injury.
The shooting comes just six weeks after a gunman killed 49 people at a club in the state in the worst massacre on US soil since the September 11 attacks.
* Agence France-Presse and Associated Press
