FORT MYERS, Fla. — Two teenagers were killed and at least 16 others were wounded in a shooting early Monday at a nightclub here that had been hosting a party for young people, the authorities said.
Police officers were called to the nightclub, Club Blu, in a palm-tree-lined strip mall in this southwestern Florida city, about 12:30 a.m. Monday. They arrived to find “several victims suffering from gunshot wounds” in the club’s parking lot, Capt. Jim Mulligan of the city’s Police Department said in a statement.
The police gave no immediate indication on a possible motive, but said it “is not an act of terror.” Residents of the neighborhood around the club said the area was stalked by drug dealing and violence.
The authorities identified the two victims killed as Sean Archilles, 14, and Stef’An Strawder, 18.
A family friend said on Monday that Mr. Strawder, who went by the nickname Dee, was an incoming senior and star basketball player at Lehigh Senior High School who aspired to play college ball.
“He was like a son to me,” said the friend, Blanca Figueroa, 40. “He was a great kid, always was playing. He never would get tired.”
Jermaine Wilson, a witness to the aftermath of the shooting, said the parking lot had been filled with cars and loud music as the teenagers were departing the club. Then he heard gunshots and saw a person lying on the ground, bleeding, he said.
“I saw everybody running,” said Mr. Wilson, 32, adding, “a bunch of people were screaming names.”
The authorities were also searching two other sites in the city — one on Parkway Street, where a home and several vehicles were shot at, with one person injured, and another on Ortiz Avenue. By late Monday morning, the Police Department said the area was deemed safe.
Victims, ages 12 to 27, began arriving at Lee Memorial Hospital around 1:30 a.m., according to Cheryl Garn, a hospital spokeswoman.
“Sixteen people were treated in the trauma center and emergency department,” she said in a statement. “One victim expired at the hospital.”
Four victims remained at Lee Memorial, one in critical condition, while the others were treated at the hospital and released. Two additional patients were released from other hospitals, officials said.
Gov. Rick Scott of Florida said in a statement that he would travel to Fort Myers later Monday.
“While we are still learning the details about what happened this morning, we know that some of the victims of this terrible incident were children,” Governor Scott said. “We will continue to pray for the victims and their families.”
As the sun rose in Fort Myers early Monday, the police were maintaining a half-mile perimeter around the nightclub. Yellow markers were placed next to dozens of shell casings scattered on the venue’s parking lot.
A flier promoting the party the night before said that Club Blu, in the Carrell Corners strip mall, was hosting a Swimsuit Glow Party with live performances, and that no identification cards would be required.
A statement early Monday on the club’s Facebook page described the gathering as a party for young people. It said the shooting erupted only after the event had ended, as teenagers were leaving the club and parents were arriving to pick them up.
“We are deeply sorry for all involved,” the statement said. “We tried to give the teens what we thought was a safe place to have a good time.”
It added, “It was not kids at the party that did this despicable act.”
The nightclub cultivated an image that often veered from homespun to risqué.
It is a place that advertises its “New Orleans style soul food” and $6.99 lunch specials. Just last week, the club was promoting a meal of pork chops with rice, macaroni and cheese, lima beans, cornbread and pink lemonade.
But other ads depict the club as a racy hot spot of scantily clad women, blaring music and flowing liquor.
The club staged a “grand reopening” in May to debut what it described as an improved building. In a corner of an ad for the event, the club made a promise: “TIGHT SECURITY ALL NIGHT.”
The attack occurred just 43 days after a gunman killed 49 people and wounded more than 50 others at Pulse, a gay nightclub in Orlando, Fla. The attacker, Omar Mateen, who took hostages at the nightclub and was killed in a police shootout, had sworn allegiance to the Islamic State.
The June 12 massacre in Orlando, which the authorities described as the worst mass shooting by a single assailant in United States history, stunned the country and spurred moves in Congress for tighter gun control.
Fort Myers, about 120 miles northwest of Miami, has about 65,000 residents. Historically, it has been a winter destination; Thomas Edison and Henry Ford had homes there. The Minnesota Twins and Boston Red Sox have spring training there.
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