Two dead, 14 to 16 wounded in shooting at Florida nightclub (Video)

Officials say two people have been killed and at least 17 wounded in a shooting outside a nightclub in Florida.

Fort Myers Police Capt. Jim Mulligan told WINK that as many as 17 people were hit in the shooting at Club Blu, which was hosting a teen night event, and their injuries ranged from minor to life-threatening. Police described the scene as “very active” and said a motive was not initially clear, as state and county officials worked overnight to piece together details.

Three suspects were taken into custody in connection with the shooting, which was reported to police around 12:30 a.m. local time, and the area had been deemed safe.

According to a local hospital, victims ranged in age from 12 to 27. ABC7 posted a flier from the club advertising a swimsuit glow party that said no ID was required for entry.

In a post on Facebook, the club said the event was for kids ages 12 to 17.

“We are deeply sorry for all involved,” the post said. “We tried to give the teens what we thought was a safe place to have a good time.”

The club said there was armed security “inside and out.”

“As the club was closing and parents were picking their children up…..that’s when all this took place,” the post said. “There was nothing more we could of done az you see it was not kids at the party that did this despicable act.”

Mulligan told WINK that two more people were taken into custody around 5:30 a.m.

Witnesses described to local news a chaotic scene during the shooting.

One told Fox4 that a man in the parking lot started yelling and opened fire, and clubgoers ran screaming from the hail of bullets.

“I couldn’t believe we were in a live shooting,” Juss Olivia, an apparent shooting witness, said in a Facebook Live video stream posted after the gunfire.

Syreeta Gary’s daughter was at the nightclub during the shooting.

“Her dodging bullets and running and ducking between cars is ridiculous that these kids have to go through this and they can’t enjoy themselves because you have other people there who have criminal minds and they just want to terrorize things,” Gray told Fox4.

“She was running away from bullets so she wouldn’t get shot.”

Police have released no further information as of yet, including a possible motive.

Agencies/Canadajournal