Armed security company worked hours before Club Blu mass shooting

FORT MYERS, Fla. – Officers with a private security company were working the parking lot outside Club Blu the night before the shooting.

Global Security is hired to secure parking lots, apartments buildings and nightclubs. It’s staff is made up of military veterans and law enforcement officers. CEO Daniel Costoulas was among the company’s security officers who were wrapping up a shift that ended the morning of Sunday, June 24 outside Club Blu.

“I was there at 5 in the morning on Sunday, is when I left,” he said. “We were hired specifically to police their parking lot.”

Costoulas’ company was not called to work the Club Blu parking lot that evening only hours before at least one gunman opened fire on a crowd of teenagers. There were about 80 people inside the club, according to witnesses. Once the party ended in the early morning of June 25, gunshots began to ring out and the parking lot became a “mad house.”

“Everyone tried to run and duck for cover. I’m sorry I’m so shaken up,” a nightclub patron said via Facebook message.

Two teens were killed and 18 other people were injured in the Club Blu shooting. One of the teens, 14-year-old Sean Archilles, was gunned down outside Club Blu and died in the parking lot.

Armed guards with Global Security had been in that same parking lot less than 24 hours earlier. Global Security officers work in teams of at least two. Their staff is trained twice a week and regularly check vehicles and question drivers will on duty. Officers are also heavily armed, Costoulas said.

“They will have full plate carriers on — level 4 body armor, which will stop rifle rounds as well as small arms fire. They wear body cams at all times. They have tasers and they have pistols either on their hip or on their chests and any level of force as far as tasers, pistols, pepper spray, handcuffs — everything that they need in order to stop whatever threat is coming towards them,” Costoulas said.

Costoulas said he is does not know why Global Security was not called to work during the party, but he feels the tragedy could have been avoided.

“It’s our job to understand the risks and put ourselves in harms way so we can mitigate whatever damage might come in an instance like that. This is what they train for. They train to make sure this kind of stuff doesn’t happen,” he said. “I feel that some people put profits over people and it drives me crazy because there are companies available that have highly trained personnel to secure you, your business, your community, your nightclub. They are available. They’re here and they are right here in Fort Myers. They’re located right here.”

He said he hopes that someone simply forgot to make the call.

“It upsets us that when people actually know about us, they’ve actually used us to secure their venues and then they choose not to and something like this happens,” Costoulas said.

A total of five lawsuits have been filed against Club Blu. Some of them accuse the nightclub of inadequate security.

Two entertainers who were at the teen party also pointed to security problems.