Families of Club Blu victims settle lawsuits for undisclosed amount

Settlements have been reached in 10 lawsuits filed on behalf of Club Blu shooting victims.

The suits claimed the plaza and the property management company where the July 25, 2016 mass shooting took place didn’t do enough to prevent the shooting or protect the teens at the club that night. Two people were killed and 18 others injured in the shooting after a teen event.

The amounts of the settlements with Carrell Corners and North Miami-based I.M.G. Equity Group are confidential per the terms of the agreement, according to attorney Joe North, who represented the victims’ families.

The families will be filing a voluntary notice of dismissal later Monday, North said.

One of two armed guards present at the club the night of the shooting was inside looking for a flashlight at the time shots were fired, expert witness Michael Zoovas testified. The former private investigator said he thought the presence of Fort Myers Police Department officers could have prevented the shooting, according to documents.

Among the plaintiffs was a man whose jaw was shattered by gunfire. He posted a video to social media showing him on a ventilator with a message saying he didn’t want to die.

Another suit came from the family of a 14-year-old shot in the stomach and hand.

The families of both teens killed — 18-year-old Stef’an Strawder and 14-year-old Sean Archilles — also filed suit.

No one has been arrested for the shooting in the nearly 18 months since it took place, making it one of the city’s most prominent unsolved cases.