Fort Myers shooting victim was high school basketball star with Division I dreams

One of the two victims killed in an early Monday morning shooting at a Fort Myers nightclub was a high school basketball star who dreamed of playing Division I college basketball, his high school coach confirmed Monday.

Stef’An Strawder, a rising high school senior at Lehigh Senior High School, died at a local hospital after gunshots broke out in the parking lot of Club Blu, police said in a statement Monday morning. Island Coast head basketball coach Evin Graham confirmed the news to the Fort Myers News-Press.

The other victim, 14-year-old Sean Archilles, was identified by police Monday morning. Family friend Lisa Laurent, 18, said they had grown up together and that the victim had a twin.

Strawder, who turned 18 last month, was a talented basketball player who his cousin Napoleon Rayner described as “the Fort Myers Steph Curry” in a tribute on Facebook Monday morning.

“All you wanted to do was ball and make it out,” Rayner wrote, attaching a photo of Strawder in his high school basketball team’s blue jersey on the court. “Love you and rest in paradise.”

Three patients remain at the hospital as of 3:30 p.m. Monday. One is in fair condition and the other two are in critical condition.

This story was originally published July 25, 2016 at 9:52 AM with the headline "Fort Myers shooting victim was high school basketball star with Division I dreams."