Gunfire erupted at a nightclub for teens in Fort Myers, Fla., leaving two teens dead and at least 17 other people wounded.
Shootings were not terrorism, authorities say
Associated Press
FORT MYERS, Fla. — Gunfire erupted at a nightclub hosting a swimsuitthemed party for teens in Florida, leaving two teens dead and at least 17 other people wounded, officials said Monday.
Authorities said the shooting was not an act of terror. Police detained three people and were searching for others, interim Police Chief Dennis Eads said.
Florida was again reeling from a mass shooting at a nightclub, but instead of being committed by an extremist spouting Islamist ideology, this rampage may have started with an argument over a rap performance. Police have not yet released a motive.
The massacre at Orlando’s Pulse nightclub last month was the deadliest shooting in modern U.S. history.
The slain teens were 14year-old Sean Archilles and 18-year-old Stef’an Strawder, police said. Sean lived about a mile from the nightclub and loved to play football and basketball, said his father, Jean Archilles.
“He liked to make people laugh. He’s a funny kid. He’s always joking,” Mr. Archilles said.
Stefan starred on the basketball team for Lehigh High School, averaging more than 15 points a game as a junior, according to The News-Press.
His sister also was at the party and was shot in the leg. She’s home from the hospital.
Stefan was always positive and energetic and was unstoppable on the court, said 16year-old Peyton Hebon, who started playing against Stefan in travel basketball leagues in sixth grade.
Four people were in the hospital. Two were in critical condition and two in fair condition, said Lisa Sgarlata, the chief administrative officer at Lee Memorial Health System.
“It’s horrible when these things happen,” Gov. Rick Scott said at an afternoon news conference. He noted that the state is currently seeing a 45-year low in the crime rate.
The Orlando shooting prompted a new surge of calls for increased gun control laws, but Mr. Scott responded at the time by saying that attack “isn’t about the Second Amendment” and saying that it was instead about terrorism. When asked Monday about those comments in the wake of this latest mass shooting, Mr. Scott said: “I support the Second Amendment. The Second Amendment has never shot anybody. Evil does this.”
The shooting happened about 12:30 a.m. Monday, just as the club was closing and parents were arriving to pick up their children.
Security guard Brandy Mclaughlin, who was hired for the event, said she saw someone with a semi-automatic rifle open fire, with the attack sounding like “firecrackers.”
“The rapper was upset, someone not being able to perform,” she said. “It wasn’t targeted, terrorist or gays, or anything like that. It wasn’t a black or white situation. It was an idiot. An idiot with a firearm.”
Club owner Cheryl Filardi, who said she was in the back room when the shots rang out, said at least 10 security guards were hired for the party.
She said the club has had four or five teen parties over the past half-dozen years, and this was the second one this summer. She said the parties are something positive for the rough and oftenviolent neighborhood.
“To be honest with you, every day someone’s getting shot in this area. These days in Lee County, somebody’s always shooting,” Ms. Filardi said. “If we do teen parties, we always have a ton of security and we’ve never had a problem.”
Fort Myers, with about 68,000 residents, is a fastgrowing city with big-city problems, including gang violence and a high rate of poverty. Its rates of homicide and overall violent crime, according to FBI reports, are about triple the national average.