NEWS

Teen tragedy: Fort Myers club shooting leaves a city in pain

The News-Press
People comfort one another Monday at the scene of a shooting at Club Blu in Fort Myers, Florida. Two people died and 16 were injured in the early morning shooting.

From a crushed can of fruit punch, local leaders could see the bloodstain in the parking lot and the beer advertisements plastered on the windows of a Fort Myers double murder and mass-shooting scene.

At about 12:30 a.m. Monday, 19 people between the ages of 12 and 27 suffered gunshot wounds, two fatally, as they left Club Blu at 3850 Evans Ave., just east of Fowler Street.

In the 45 minutes that ensued, police chased three indviduals in a white Chevrolet Impala and finally stopped the car near Luckett Road and Ortiz Avenue, almost seven miles from the shooting scene. Two tried to escape from the car by foot. The driver was shot in the abdomen by law enforcement as he attempted to run over a deputy, according to a Lee County Sheriff’s Office report.

Family mourns 14-year-old boy killed in Fort Myers club shooting

The FBI and ATF also are assisting the Fort Myers Police Department with the investigation.

A score of TV trucks parked at Club Blu throughout Monday as leaders and onlookers, media and a minister tried to make sense of why and how two teenagers were killed and so many were injured.

Jean Robert Archilles, the father of Sean Archilles, 14, talks about the death of his son.  He was killed in a mass shooting at Club Blu in Fort Myers.

Stef’An Strawder, 18 and a standout basketball player at Lehigh Senior High School, and Sean Archilles, 14 and an eighth-grader at Royal Palm Exceptional School, lost their lives not long after they spilled out into the parking lot with other revelers. Some were wearing glow-in-the-dark necklaces, and many of them were dancing to the beat of an up-tempo song just before the chaos began at what was billed on a flyer as a “Glow Party and Birthday Bash.”

Strawder died from his wounds at Lee Memorial Hospital, and Archilles died at the scene. There were 16 people treated in the trauma unit, and four of them remained hospitalized as of Monday evening.

The shootings led to the arrests of two former Dunbar High School football players. Derrick Church, 19, who had played last fall at Warner University, was identified as the white Impala’s driver. Tajze Battle, who had received a scholarship offer from Alabama A&M but did not play football there, was identified as one of the individuals who fled on foot along with Demetrius O’Neal, 19.

Lehigh basketball star Stef'An Strawder killed in Club Blu shooting

The shootings thrust Fort Myers into the national spotlight, with CNN broadcasting live from the scene. Links to the story appeared front and center across the nation, featured as trending topics on Facebook and Twitter and other social media sites all day.

The deaths brought a litany of leaders who convened for an afternoon news conference at the Florida Department of Law Enforcement offices at Page Field, where Gov. Rick Scott, Attorney General Pam Bondi, Fort Myers Mayor Randy Henderson, interim Fort Myers Police Chief Dennis Eads and Lee County Superintendent Greg Adkins addressed the media with more than 20 cameras capturing them taking turns talking at a podium.

They took few questions and revealed few details.

Eads, set to be replaced soon by former Toledo, Ohio, police chief Derrick Diggs, said he could not reveal much because of the active investigation.

Eads stressed: “This was not an act of terrorism.”

By mid-afternoon, the three individuals were in custody, but Eads added: “We are still looking for others.”

Club Blu co-owner Cheryl Filardi said at least eight armed security guards were at the bar.

“We did everything we could to make sure these kids were safe,” Filardi said. “There was nothing we could do … a car rolled up and just started shooting.”

One of the security guards was shot, she said. So was Terrance Moore, 19 and a former running back at Fort Myers High.

“It was a crazy night,” said Moore, who was shot in the shoulder, treated at the hospital and released. “I don’t even know what happened. I can’t even tell you.”

Tragedy in Fort Myers: Club Blu Mass Shooting

Two teen boys were killed and up to 16 others injured early Monday following a mass shooting at Club Blu in Fort Myers

Marshall Bland, 43, of Lehigh Acres, said a bullet grazed his 23-year-old son of the same name’s stomach. He was treated at Lee Memorial Hospital and released.

“I’m just happy my family is spared, but at the same time, my heart cries out for the family that is a part of it,” Bland Sr. said.

Juan Santibanez and his family witnessed the aftermath of the shootings from across the street. They were unloading their car after arriving home from an Orlando vacation when they heard the gunshots.

“As soon as I heard the shooting, my wife and kids were coming out, and we hit the floor,” Santibanez said. “My wife started panicking. I just put them on the floor and got on top of them.

“All you heard was just screaming and crying, just people in pain. It happened right in front of the parents. The parents were picking up their kids.”

Club Blu shooting in Fort Myers: What we know now

Fort Myers city councilwoman Terolyn Watson returned to the crime scene in the afternoon to try and get a sense of what happened. She advised the city’s parents to have some candid, age-appropriate discussions with their children about the shootings and to learn from them. She also said she did not want to get into the blame game.

“It was a teen night,” Watson said. “That’s one of the things we as parents need. We can’t always put the blame here. We’ve got to come together as a community. I’m not going to fault this parent, that parent. I’m not going to fault certain individuals.”

City councilman Forrest Banks and Congressman Curt Clawson accompanied Watson.

“The message is, we have a socioeconomic situation in Fort Myers, just like every city in the state and every city in this country,” Banks said. “We need to all get together. The problem is, too many people, they don’t see the value of a high school education. They get in trouble. They get a record. What do they do? Then you have social media. Social media is going on. When you type something, it’s not like when you’re saying it. People interpret it a certain way. You get a few back and forths, and then somebody is mad. I don’t know if this is the case, but I’ve heard that had something to do with it.”

Fort Myers interim police chief, Dennis Eads attends a press conference with Florida Gov. Rick Scott at the Florida Department of Law Enforcement in Fort Myers.

Lee County Sheriff Mike Scott attended the news conference and told The News-Press afterward during a phone interview one of his main concerns is the glorification of gangster-style behavior.

“Dress like a thug, speak like a thug, act like a thug,” Scott said. “I know we have dismal examples in the hip-hop world. These are people who these young kids in some places look up to. When I was 14-years-old, I wouldn’t be out at a bar at 12 o’clock midnight. You’ve got to look at parenting. You’ve got to look at a lot of different things.”

Scott said he gets asked often about how to avoid mass shootings.

“But apparently, nobody anywhere in the country knows how to stop it,” he said. “It’s going on in inner cities across the country. It’s the leading cause of death for young black men between the ages of 17 and 35.

“It’s terribly sad. It’s terribly upsetting. But the frustration is when it’s almost impossible to stop it. We remain very, very concerned, naturally. I’ve lived here my whole life, and most of our deputies have, too. We went to our schools. We shop in our stores. Of course we want safety. What can be done about it? The reality is, nobody in the country has figured out how to stop this. You pick up any paper in any major city, and you’re going to find the exact same thing.

Fort Myers Police work the scene early Monday morning of a shooting at Club Blu in Fort Myers, Florida. Two people died and 16 were injured in the early morning shooting.

“There’s no excuse for any of it. It’s unacceptable. The reality is that the crime rate, countywide, is down. But when you have an event like that, it’s like a plane crash. They don’t happen very often, but when they do – it’s a big story.”

Outside of Club Blu, not far from Next Level Church’s prayer tent, stood Fort Myers minister Luther Hubert Jones, reading aloud and alone from a two-page prayer titled “Knowing God’s plan for marriage.”

“Not marriage like between a man and a woman,” Jones said, after he finished reading from it, “but between you and God.

“What we really need is love and understanding. Mothers and fathers. That’s the story. You’ve got to stop breaking families apart. It’s time for families to come together.”

Jean Robert Archilles learns from Fort Myers Police victim advocate Chevala Jones, right, that his son Sean Archilles, 14, was killed in a shooting early Monday morning at Club Blu in Fort Myers, Florida. Two people died and 16 were injured in the shooting. At left, is Adline Azemard, a relative of Archilles.

Tragedy in Fort Myers: Club Blu Mass Shooting

The News-Press and Naples Daily news staff writers Melissa Montoya-Ocampo, Ben Brasch, Mike Braun, Kinfay Moroti, Melanie Payne, Maryann Batlle, Dan Deluca, Dave Breitenstein, Cody Dulaney, David Dorsey, Bill Smith, Cory Mull and Joseph Cranney contributed to this report.

HELP NEEDED

The Fort Myers Police Department said it's imperative that all persons who were involved with this incident come forward.

If anyone has any information regarding this case they are requested to contact the Fort Myers Police Department at 239-321-7700. Callers may also call Crime Stoppers at 1-800-780-TIPS or text message C-R-I-M-E-S (274637) Keyword FMPD. Tipsters can remain anonymous.

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