Hamilton police say Club Seventy-seven bouncer Vincenzo Lofaro was shot and killed by three men in an act of "symbolic" revenge against the club that had kicked them out earlier that night.

Lofaro was an "innocent bystander" who just happened to still be at the club when the men returned, say police.

Hamilton police announced Thursday they have charged three men with the killing of Lofaro. They are still looking for a fourth suspect.

Lofaro was shot outside the King William Street Bar in the early morning of Friday May 13.

Police said after a night out at Club Seventy-Seven, a 2 a.m. fight saw a group of men being physically escorted from the club, by bar staff and police officers.

Police say the men threatened to return.

At 3:15 a.m. Hamilton Police Services responded to a call at Club Seventy-Seven, and found Lofaro on the street outside of the club.

Investigators believe that the men returned "and murdered Lofaro as a symbolic act of revenge against the club," said Detective Dave Oleniuk in a press conference Thursday.

"He was an innocent bystander, everybody that knew him loved him," he said.

The three accused were appearing in court this morning.

"There are no words that can describe how I feel about them, that they're nothing but heartless — I'm not going to say the word — but they're heartless," said Jackie Attard, 31, who had previously been in a relationship with Lofaro.

"He was the kind of guy that had a heart of gold," she said.

Attard said she's grateful for the community's support.

The disturbance at the bar was minor, but ended in those involved being physically escorted out of the bar. It's a regular occurrence at clubs, said Oleniuk. He said, after review, the police have concluded that the force used was not excessive.

Lofaro, who worked in the smoking section of the bar holding the door and lighting cigarettes for patrons, may not have even known what happened.

"It was a minor disturbance at the opposite end of the building he was attending to," said Oleniuk. "He ws not involved in any way."

Lofaro happened to be the last staff member outside, waiting for a ride home.

Police officers were on scene the whole night for the special event concert. The shooting happened about 15 minutes after they left.

Oleniuk says the attack involved one shooter and one handgun, but was a coordinated attack with multiple individuals involved.

Police compiled witness statements, and used surveillance video from Club Seventy-Seven, which cooperated with the police to provide the "lion's share of the evidence," said Oleniuk. Detectives also looked at surveillance video from Filmworks Lofts, a residential building across the street.

Rebaz Resh, 25, Waed Alabd Alnabi, 25, and Amnar Nabulsi, 26, have been charged with first degree murder and aggravated assault. The fourth individual is also suspected to be in his 20s.

For Attard, there are still a number of questions to be answered.

"If the club knew about this threat before (Lofaro) was murdered, he would have still been here if they would have taken more action for the employee," she said.

"If they knew they were going to come back, the club should have done more to ensure that this wouldn't have happened."

Club Seventy-Seven was unable to be reached for comment before publishing.