Dan DeLuca, Michael Braun, Melanie Payne and Melissa Montoya

The (Fort Myers, Fla.) News-Press

FORT MYERS, Fla. — Two people are dead, including a 14-year-old boy and a local high school basketball star, and up to 16 were injured after a deadly shooting during teen night at a Florida nightclub.

The mass shooting "is not an act of terror," police said.

Monday evening three of the victims, ages 12 to 27, remained hospitalized, two with potentially life-threatening injuries, said Cheryl Garn, a spokeswoman for Lee Memorial Health Systems.

The gunshots rang out here just after midnight ET Monday as parents picked up their kids from a teen “Swimsuit and Glow Party” at Club Blu. The party was advertised on a flyer posted to Club Blu's Facebook page. (The flyer was subsequently removed and the page taken down.)

High school basketball star killed in Florida shooting

Interim police Chief Dennis Eads, at the Fort Myers crime scene Monday morning, declined to answer questions about whom the shooters may have targeted. Demetrius O’Neal, 19; Derrick Church, 19; and Tajze Battle, 22, are in custody in connection with the shooting, and police are searching for other potential suspects.

The incident comes six weeks after the deadly shooting at Pulse, a gay nightclub in Orlando about 150 miles north of Fort Myers. The Orlando gunman, who pledged allegiance to the Islamic State, killed 49 club patrons June 12 before police shot him after what is considered the worst mass shooting in recent U.S. history.

Police named the victims as Sean Archilles, 14, and local high school basketball star Stef'an Strawder, 18.

Sean's father, Jean Robert Archilles, said still he can't believe his son is dead.

Sean went to Royal Palm Exceptional School, a county-run pre-kindergarten through 12th grade school with about 150 students, and Archilles said he can't imagine why anyone would kill him.

Strawder, a promising high school basketball player who aspired to play Division I college basketball, was pronounced dead at Lee Memorial Hospital at 3:30 a.m., according to his mother, Stephanie White.

The teen was shot in his right shoulder as he walked through Club Blu's door on his way to the parking lot, his mother said. White heard that Strawder had pushed his cousin out of the way right before he was hit.

Earlier, a woman who identified herself as Adline Azemard, Sean's relative, spoke about him.

Family mourns boy, 14, killed in Florida club shooting

"My cousin called and said Sean is dead," Adline Azemard said. "We were at Lee Memorial (Hospital) all night, and they don't tell us nothing."

The usually adults-only nightclub that also sells to-go food in the community opened its doors to everybody Sunday night with a “Vonte Birthday Bash,” and no ID was required. Free glow necklaces and bracelets — seen on dancing customers in a Snapchat video posted just before the shooting — as well as beach toys were handed out at the door.

The flyer also advertised live performances from five entertainers and a deejay.

The party started at 8:30 p.m. and people were charged an entrance fee of $10, or $15 after 10:30 p.m. But the cost was $5 all night for anyone wearing swim attire.

Fort Myers club shooting: What we know

Azemard said she sometimes works at the club as security for adult events.

"They should have had security," she ​said. "I didn't know they had kid parties."

In a statement from Club Blu on its Facebook page, which is no longer available, club owners said they did have security and were "deeply sorry for all involved."

We tried to give teens what we thought was a safe place to have a good time. Ages 12-17. There was armed security as well as full security, inside and out. As the club was closing and parents were picking their children up, that's when all this took place. There was nothing more we could of done as you see it was not the kids at the party that did this despicable act.

Fort Myers Mayor Randy Henderson said the city will investigate why so many young people were at Club Blu into the early morning hours. The city has an 9 p.m. curfew for those younger than 18 Sundays to Thursdays and 11 p.m. Fridays and Saturdays.

The curfew was put into place to keep kids safe, he said. And city officials rely on parents to help them enforce the rules.

"We did everything we could to make sure these kids were safe," Club Blu co-owner Cheryl Filardi told The News-Press, adding that at least eight armed guards were there for security. "There was nothing we could do. ... A car rolled up and just started shooting."

A series of gunshots was fired in rapid succession, she said, leading her to believe one of the guns involved was automatic. One of the security guards was also shot.

One woman, Emma Decimus, stood crying near the scene after sunrise Monday, mourning for Sean, a nephew.

"They saw him on the ground," she said of witnesses.

Lisa Laurent, 18, is a family friend.

"We grew up together," she said of Sean. "He had a twin, Desean."

Club Blu shooting: Man posts video from hospital bed

Strawder, who was headed to his senior year at Lehigh High School, was one of three finalists for The News-Press basketball player of the year.

Marshall Bland said a bullet grazed his son's abdomen and the 23-year-old has since been released from the hospital. The tired father waited for news about injuries at Lee Memorial Hospital for a while before he was told his son was OK.

"I'm just happy my family is spared, but at the same time my heart cries for the family that is a part of it," the 43-year-old said.

Bland said his son, Marshall Bland Jr., was at the club with a relative, who also survived.

"I can't imagine a 12-year-old at a night club," he said.

An earlier statement on Facebook, which has since been deleted but was preserved by a Twitter user, said: "No ID was required because it was a middle school/high school event." The post said family members in the parking lot were picking up the teens, which is why there were non-teens in the parking lot.

Club Blu described itself as restaurant and lounge with New Orleans style soulfood on Facebook.

However, an earlier version of its page advertised a "no panties night," saying that women without underwear would be admitted free. According to local reports, the "Girls Gone Wild. No Panties Edition" was held a week before the "swimsuit glow party."

Contributing: Matthew Diebel, USA TODAY, Maryann Batlle, Naples (Fla.) Daily News. Follow Dan DeLuca, Michael Braun, Melanie Payne, Melissa Montoya on Twitter: @NewsPressDan, @MichaelBraunNP, @TellMel and @MelissaMontoyaO