Two die, 14 injured in South Florida nightclub shootings

Two people are dead, 12 are recovering from gunshot wounds and another two are recovering from glass injuries after two separate shootings early Thursday morning, one in Broward and the other in Palm Beach County.

The first call to police came at about 3:19 a.m. when Broward Sheriff’s Office deputies rushed to South Rock Lounge Bar and Grill, 3670 N. State Road 7, a Caribbean-American bar and grill in a Lauderdale Lakes strip mall, said Dani Moschella, spokeswoman for Broward Sheriff’s Office

The shooting began when two men got in an altercation and one of them pulled a gun. Then, the bar’s security guard also drew his gun and told the man to put away his firearm. The gunman refused and both fired. A hail of bullets was unleashed that killed the original gunman as well as the man with whom he was arguing.

Another 10 people in the bar were wounded by gunshots. The security guard was not injured.

At about 9:45 a.m. Thursday, detectives removed a body in a black body bag from the scene of the shooting. A woman, believed to be a witness, was sobbing in the back seat of a green Chrysler sedan. Flyers promoting bars and nightclubs, a blood-soaked sock, a shoe and latex gloves remained scattered at the Lauderdale Lakes Shopping Center, where the bar is located.

Detectives, including six Crime Scene Unit investigators and a Mobile Crime Scene Laboratory bus, had cordoned off the area with yellow crime-scene tape, including about seven vehicles believed to belong to some of the victims and bar guests.

“Detectives have a lot of work to do to put the puzzle pieces together and find out what happened,” Moschella said.

Broward Sheriff’s Office Fire Rescue, Lauderdale Lakes Fire Rescue and Tamarac Fire Rescue all responded to the scene where they treated the wounded and took them to local hospitals. Four were taken to Florida Medical Center in Lauderdale Lakes, one woman was taken as a trauma alert to North Broward Medical Center and another person was taken to Plantation General Hospital.

Rescue crews took another five people to Broward General Medical Center, including the original gunman who later died in the hospital.

The second shooting happened at about 3:40 a.m. in a Riviera Beach adult entertainment club.

Palm Beach Sheriff’s Office detectives were summoned to Gold Fingers Gentlemen’s Club, 8340 Resource Drive, said Teri Barbera, spokeswoman for Palm Beach Sheriff’s Office.

What started as an altercation between two men ended with one man getting shot in the foot, another getting shot in his lower leg and two women getting injured by shattered glass.

Bullets were unleashed shortly after the argument when a car drove by the club, and someone inside the vehicle unloaded numerous shots at the crowd, Barbera said.

Rescue crews took all four victims to St. Mary’s Medical Center in West Palm Beach with non-life-threatening injuries.