Man explains horror, heroism after Club Blu shooting

FORT MYERS, Fla. – One man says his ears continue to ring remembering the sounds of screams and gunshots outside Club Blu.

“Just the screams and the sounds and the gunshots — that’s pretty much the only thing. It’s kind of getting better but at first, like the first couple of days it was really getting to me,” he said.

Two teenagers were killed and 18 other people injured when at least one gunman opened fire on a crowd of mostly children leaving a summer party June 25.

The man did not want to be identified but said complete chaos erupted outside the nightclub, located on Evans Avenue. Bullets raced past his ears.

“They were so close my ears started ringing, so it was a bad feeling to be around,” he said.

As bullets continued to fly, he dropped to the ground, finding cover under his car.

“I immediately went to my car and tried to take cover under my car — just try to hide away from the chaos,” he said.

He was unharmed. But within a few feet from him and a friend, another person was wailing in pain.

“We seen somebody a couple cars away from us and he was shot and we heard him screaming. No one was helping him out,” he said. “And I didn’t even know where he got shot at. I just knew he got shot somewhere so my first thought was to get him to the hospital as soon as I can.”

The man slipped the victim, a complete stranger, into his car and rushed him to the hospital. The victim’s screams continued as the condition of his wound worsened.

“It was a horrible sight, sounds to hear in the back while I’m driving him but I’m glad I got him there safely and everything.” he said. “He was yelling in agony. His pain was unbearable. His thigh was getting three times the size, swollen and swollen.”

He wasn’t the only one to bring victims to Lee Memorial Hospital.

“At least five or six cars coming with people, crying — people holding their gunshot wounds,” he said.

Hospital officials called the Club Blu shooting aftermath the worst its trauma department has seen in 17 years.

Dr. Nelayda Fonte, a trauma surgeon at Lee Memorial Hospital, said it was surreal seeing child after child enter the emergency room.

“Parents aren’t supposed to outlive their kids and when these situations come up, it’s coming up way to often. Yea, that’s the toughest thing to do,” she said.