Two Dead, Many Wounded in Fla. Nightclub Shooting

FORT MYERS, Fla. (CN) - A shooting at a Florida club's teen swimsuit party has left at least two dead, and more than a dozen others injured.

Gunshots broke out at Club Blu in Fort Myers around midnight, according to police.

Club Blu, a restaurant and lounge on Florida's west coast, was hosting a "Swimsuit Glow Party," where teenagers were told they would receive $5 admission if they wore a bathing suit.

According to the club, the shooting took place as the Sunday night event was ending, and parents were picking up their children.

The Fort Myers Police Department said its officers arrived to find bullet-ridden victims strewn on the ground in the parking lot of the club.

"There are two confirmed deaths as a result of this incident, and at least 14-16 people hurt," the department said.

Fourteen-year-old Shawn Archilles and eighteen-year-old high-school basketball star Stef'An Strawder were identified as the fatally wounded victims.

A rap artist known as Nieya, who is listed as the performer for the event, said she was "so sick to hear Stefan moan in pain."

"You could see he was hurting but nobody could do nothing but try to keep him up until the ambulance came. I'm sorry bro, I'm so sorry it had to be you," she wrote on her social media page.

Though the Fort Myers Police Department said it is still "attempting to determine a motive" for the shooting, it insisted that "this incident is not an act of terror ... or terrorism. "

The club posted an apology on its social media page early Monday morning: "We are deeply sorry for all involved. We tried to give the teens what we thought was a safe place to have a good time. Ages 12-17. There were armed security as well as full security, inside and out.

"There was nothing more we could [have] done."

Police said they have linked the club shooting to an incident in a nearby residential neighborhood, where a home and vehicle were "shot at."

Though persons of interest have been detained, Fort Myers police have not responded to Courthouse News' request for comment regarding whether an arrest has been made in the shooting.

Gov. Rick Scott said he was cancelling his scheduled events to visit with law enforcement and local officials in Fort Myers.

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