25 wounded, 3 trampled during US nightclub shooting

MIAMI -- Twenty-five people were wounded, two of whom were in critical condition, during a nightclub shooting early Saturday in the southern US state of Arkansas, officials said.

Authorities said three more people were injured by stampeding patrons fleeing the shooting.

The mayor of Little Rock said all of the victims are expected to survive after gunfire broke out inside the downtown Power Ultra Lounge nightclub around 2:30 a.m.

"I want to reassure our public that this was not an act of terrorism but a tragedy... It does not appear to be a planned shooting," Mayor Mark Stodola told a press conference.

A disagreement involving a small number of patrons at the club quickly escalated because of "the presence of rivalries and weapons," Stodola said.

Authorities did not immediately release any names or information on a suspect or suspects.

However, Police Chief Kenton Buckner said some members with the headliner group, including one with a gun, had been stopped by police after trying to enter the nightclub. They appear to have gained access to the club later through a different entry way.

Buckner said the victims ranged in age from 16 to 35, with two in critical condition.

"We have no reason to believe at this time that anyone in the general public is at harm of any incident," he added.

Authorities are investigating whether a longstanding rivalry between feuding gangs was to blame for the violence, and said they have closed down the club in the wake of the shootings.

"I think when you have a concert venue where you have young people and force these two cities into a small room and some kind of dispute ensues, it was a recipe for disaster," Stodola said.

"Little Rock's crime problem appears to be intensifying," Arkansas Governor Asa Hutchinson said in a statement, decrying "this senseless violent tragedy."

He promised state resources to help "support local law enforcement efforts."

The FBI, the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives (ATF), and the US Marshalls were working on the case, Stodola said.

The mayor thanked first responders and hospitals on Facebook.

"My heart is broken this morning -- my prayers are with the victims of this tragedy," he said.

"We must do more to keep guns out of the hands of the wrong people. And government can do something to help us with that," he said during the press conference, expressing outrage that promotional material featuring a firearm had been used to advertise the event.

According to the nightclub website, an artist by the name of Finese 2 Tymes was scheduled to perform.

Police had initially had said that 17 people were shot, before updating the toll later Saturday.

source: news.abs-cbn.com

2 teenagers killed, 18 hurt in Florida shooting

FORT MYERS - A shooting outside a party at a Florida nightclub that left two male teenagers dead and as many as 18 other people wounded early on Monday was not an act of terror, police in Fort Myers said.

The latest burst of gun violence to wrack the state this summer occurred just after 12:30 a.m. EDT (0430 GMT) in the parking lot of Club Blu, which was hosting an event open to teenagers, the Fort Myers Police Department said in a statement.

Police said Stef'An Strawder, an 18-year-old basketball star at a local high school, and Sean Archilles, 14, were killed. Two other people have potentially life-threatening injuries, local hospital officials said.

Although police said they did not know the motive for the shooting, they confirmed in a statement that "this incident is not an act of terror (as it has been referred) or terrorism."

Police said three people had been detained for questioning and that the area around the club was deemed safe, although roads in the vicinity remained closed.

Hospitals affiliated with the Lee Memorial Health System received 19 patients ranging in ages from 12 to 27 years from the nightclub shooting. Lisa Sgarlata, chief administrative officer for Lee Memorial Hospital, said an additional victim was pronounced dead at the scene.

Four patients remain hospitalized at Lee Memorial Hospital. Two have potentially life-threatening injuries and are in a surgical intensive care unit, Dr. Drew Mikulaschek told reporters at a news conference.

The shooting came six weeks after a massacre at a nightclub in the Florida city of Orlando, where a lone gunman who sympathized with Islamist extremist groups killed 49 people in the deadliest mass shooting in U.S. history.

Club Blu, located about 150 miles southwest of Orlando in the Gulf Coast city of Fort Myers, was hosting a "swimsuit glow party" for people all ages, according to a flyer posted on Twitter by local television station WINK. To enter, patrons were not required to show proof that they were the legal age to drink alcoholic beverages.

The nightclub said on its Facebook page that the shooting occurred when the venue was closing and parents were picking up their children.

"We tried to give the teens what we thought was a safe place to have a good time," the statement said, pointing out that armed security guards were posted inside and outside the club. "It was not kids at the party that did this despicable act."

In a video interview with local media, Syreeta Gary said her daughter and a friend ran for cover from the gunshots, seeking safety at a nearby apartment complex.

"Dodging bullets and running, dropping between cars, it's ridiculous that these kids have to go through this," Gary said in an interview posted on Twitter by a reporter for Fort Myers Fox affiliate WFTX. "They can't enjoy themselves."

Her daughter got out unscathed, but a bullet struck a friend in the leg, Gary said.

The teens who died both attended schools in Lee County, district spokeswoman Lauren Stillwell said. Archilles was due to enter the eighth grade at Royal Palm Exceptional Center, while Strawder was to start his senior year at Lehigh Senior High School.

Strawder's mother, Stephanie White, told the News-Press newspaper that her son was shot in his right shoulder as he walked out of the club. His 19-year-old sister survived a gunshot wound in the leg, White said.

Police said shots were also fired at a nearby residence, where there was one minor injury.

Fort Myers police and the Lee County's Sheriff's Office were canvassing the area for other people who may have been involved, a police statement said.

source: www.abs-cbnnews.com