Technology played factor in Club Blu shooting investigation, more tips wanted

We spoke to investigators of the 2016 Club Blu shooting in Fort Myers who spent years on the case, whose efforts led to the five recent arrests made.

This boils down to good detective work and new technology.

Lt. Mike Walsh and Sgt. Lisa Breneman with Fort Myers Police Department remember the night vividly of July 25, 2016, and it’s been with them every day since.

“We continually worked on this for years,” Walsh said. “What put us on the right path was the resources that Chief Diggs took over. He recognized how big the case was, how important it was for us and the community.”

Going through the mountains of evidence was key and then the department brought the case back into the spotlight by creating the Club Blu Task Force 6 months ago, which included the FBI and Lee County Sheriff’s Office.

“You were able to separate everything out, just lay everything out and really take a chance to look and analyze everything,” Breneman said. “We had things that were in the case file that we didn’t understand the relevance of it at one point until you really start going through everything.”

New technology helped too.

“There’s a new way of getting fingerprints off of items and its technology that we don’t have and the sheriff’s office didn’t have,” Breneman said. “We had to reach out to another outside agency too. It’s not the old dust and, and taping way of collecting fingerprints, it’s a much more advanced way of doing it. That was one piece that was very helpful for us.”

Still, the case is far from over.

“When the club let out, there were hundreds of people in that parking lot, and there were many, many witnesses out there among the many, many shooters,” Walsh said. “Alot of people who were out there know what happened.”

Investigators want those who know more about what happened the night 18-yer-old Stef’an Strawder and Sean Archilles were killed and at least 14 others injured to reach out to them and help them continue to work toward justice. A helpful tip could award a tipster a $20,000 reward.

If you have any information on the weapons, locations, or events of that night, there are two numbers you can call. Tips can be provided to the State Attorney’s Office Cold Case Homicide Unit Tip Line: 1-833-987-2611 as well as SWFL Crime Stoppers: 1-800-780-8477.