Sun Sentinel Broward Edition

Two dead, one injured after gunfire at club

- By Linda Trischitta Staff writer

Outside a nightclub near Fort Lauderdale on Wednesday, BrowardShe­riff’s detectives paused as a man’s draped body was loaded into an SUV for a trip to the morgue.

Bloodwas spatteredo­na green Ford Escape SUV in the small parking lot of Club B.A.M. Blood also stained the north side of the lot and spilled toward Northwest First Street at Northwest 28th Terrace, where before dawn, a man was found dead.

Two other men were shot, and one later died at a hospital. The surviving man’s injuries were not life-threatenin­g, Broward Sheriff’s spokeswoma­nJoy Oglesby said.

“It’s kind of unclear exactly what happened,” Oglesby said. “The detectives are on scene trying to determine if it was related to the establishm­ent or not.”

The violence happened just four blockswest of the Broward Sheriff’s West Broward Boulevard headquarte­rs. Oglesby said the agency was called around 4:21 a.m. about shots fired in the neighborho­od, bringing deputies and paramedics to the intersecti­on.

“They found one adult male dead on scene,” Oglesby said. Broward Sheriff’s Fire Rescue did not take anyone to a hospital, a spokesman said.

The surviving men apparently got to a hospital on their own, and that is where one died.

Detectives identified the two dead men as Wendell Soliphar, 23, and Louis Simon, 30, who has several aliases, including Tony Josephs and “F 1.” The injured man has not been identified.

A block west of the club alongNorth­west 28thWay, Chad LaGasse stood in the rear parking lot of his family’s pool constructi­on business that has been at the location for 59 years. The company’s sign, of a woman’s legs as she dives intowater, is alandmarko­n West Broward Boulevard.

“Violence is very common in the neighborho­od,” LaGasse said. “Recently a girl stabbed a guy in the stomach, right behind the convenienc­e store [across the street]. Police are always here for something.”

Despite the criminal activity, he said the family likes the neighborho­od and the people who live there, and have residents.

“But it’s getting LaGasse said.

Eighteen months ago, the nightclub parking lot was a homicide scene. On Nov. 25, 2015, at about the same time asWednesda­y’s violence, adeputyonp­atrol heard shots being fired and found Joshua Rogers, 27, of Pompano Beach, dead in the Club B.A.M. parking lot, the sheriff’s office said.

Within four days, detectives arrested two men for suspicion of attempted murder for their roles in events that led to Rogers’ death, the agency said then.

OnWednesda­y morning after investigat­ors left, the nightclub was open but no one came to the door. A realtor’s sign says the club is for sale; an owner and promoters could not be reached for comment.

Oglesby did not yet have descriptio­ns of possible suspects.

“We desperatel­y need the public’s help,” she said.

The agency asks anyone with informatio­n to call Broward County Crime Stoppers, at 954-493-8477. The organizati­on accepts anonymous tips and pays up to $3,000 for informatio­n that leads to an arrest. employed some worse,”

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