Crime

Authorities Search for Culprits in Florida Nightclub Shooting that Left Two Dead and 22 Wounded

Two Dead and 22 Wounded in Nightclub Shooting Near Tampa

Palmetto police say at least one assault rifle was used in a nightclub shooting that left two people dead and another 22 wounded.

Police said Sunday that at least one AK-47 was used in the shooting based on what witnesses told investigators and evidence collected at the scene. Police have not yet released a motive for the shooting. No arrests have been made.

NBC 8 video on the shooting:

Police said at least two shooters opened fired shortly after midnight Saturday at the Club Elite. The two killed were identified as 25-year-old Trayton Goff of Palmetto and 38-year-old Gwenette Matthews of Bradenton. Matthews was struck by a bullet as she was with her sister inside the club, and Goff was killed while he was sitting against a wall outside.

Another 22 club-goers were hit by gunfire and taken to area hospitals. Fox News reposts that about 70 to 80 rounds were fired in the shooting and police have recovered spent 7.62 x 39-mm. cartridge cases.

One club promotor told reporters, “I was on the floor trying not to die.”

“I was between one who got shot in the back of the head and one that got killed and one gentleman that got Bayflighted (airlifted) out,” said Chip Hunt to Reuters.

Hunt indicated that the shooters appeared to be targeting Goff among the estimated 150 people inside the club Friday night.

This is not the first shooting death at Club Elite according to My Fox Tampa. In December 2003, 23-year-old Breon Mitchell was gunned down by Tavarious China Smith. Murder charges against Smith were dropped by prosecutors in February 2004, arguing that Smith acted in self-defense.

Two Dead and 22 Wounded in Nightclub Shooting Near Tampa

The venue was open Friday for people over 25 and had a dress code for the “Grown & Sexy” event. The Tampa Tribune reports that police have visited Club Elite dozens of times this year on incident calls according to a Palmetto Police Department log.

Palmetto is just south of Tampa Bay and north of Bradenton.

The Associated Press contributed to this article.

Comments (54)

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  • taxedenuf
    Posted on September 12, 2011 at 11:13am

    Three DUH stories over the weekend. This one, and was it a black on black crime? DUH. The middle eastern men doing funny things on planes and was it plan making? DUH. And the black dance party in Minneapolis and would it turn into a riot? DUH. It’s good to know the standards are still upheld in our society.

    Report Post »  
  • steveo427
    Posted on September 12, 2011 at 10:48am

    What?? Black people doing something wrong? Get out of here.
    Where are all the black leaders condemning all the violence? The Mayor of Philly seems to be the only one that cares, and recognizes what the problem is.

    Report Post »  
  • Tickdog
    Posted on September 12, 2011 at 8:32am

    oh… let me guess….

    Report Post » Tickdog  
  • Sicialian Eyeball
    Posted on September 12, 2011 at 8:28am

    Lesson to be learned- Stay out of “DARK” night clubs.

    Report Post »  
  • theothertoolbox
    Posted on September 12, 2011 at 8:27am

    And, this hippity-hop culture is enriching our nation in so many ways. Ain’t diversity and tolerance great?

    Report Post » theothertoolbox  
  • theothertoolbox
    Posted on September 12, 2011 at 8:10am

    I keep telling them that you have to do away with the “sideways ghetto-style shooting” and obtain a deliberate sight picture. The body count here is better than a lot of shootings, so maybe some of them are taking my advice.

    Report Post » theothertoolbox  
  • NuffSaid
    Posted on September 12, 2011 at 6:36am

    This is Mexico style creeping into the US. Stop it now. Put a perimeter manned by marines around this community. Search anyone who tries to leave. Starve them out.

    Report Post »  
    • FLCRACKER
      Posted on September 12, 2011 at 6:45am

      I hate to burst the illegal alien bashing but this was an all black club. Although PalmGhetto is full of illegals this was black on black crime. Please see link for further clarification.

      http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mWLr2YplmYI

      Report Post »  
    • Carolina Infidel
      Posted on September 12, 2011 at 6:58am

      I think a majority of you guys are waaaay off base thinking this has anything to do with illegals. This is a hip hop issue, probably drug related. These “grown and sexy” parties and late night clubs get shot up with regular frequency even here in the holy city. Look around your area and you will find the same thing.
      I owned a club that eventually was overrun with a hip hop crowd. The area we started in changed so much over the years that the good clientel stopped coming around. We would try to enforce dress codes and standards but then we were accused of being racist. These people felt they had the right to be in my private establishment.
      It got so bad in the parking lot with people trying to rob my customers at gun point that I told the Police Capt if they didn’t put a black and white in my parking lot that I would put my deerstand on the roof and shoot the next person that pulled a gun with my 30.06. In the last 3 months of owning the place I was patrolling my own parking lot with a Mossberg 500 and Glock19.
      Busted 3 guys in the parking lot with a ton of cocaine cut up to sell. They were 16 and 17 years old.
      Guns and drugs are part of the hip hop culture.
      I actually bullet-proofed the front of my building because my biggest fear was a 22 year old college kid drinking a Jager bomb at the bar would catch a random bullet because I wouldn’t allow some thugs in my bar.
      Late nite bars and restaurants(IHOP and WAFFLEHOUSE) are tell-alls for how bad society has gotten.

      Report Post »  
    • Carolina Infidel
      Posted on September 12, 2011 at 7:09am

      For the record though, the only guys who ever randomly opened fire at the front of my building because they meet meet our dress code were hispanics who showed up at midnight on a saturday in dirty painters clothes. The put 16 holes in the front of my building with an AK. The AK isn’t the issue. I own one and it has never gone off on its own and shot up a club.

      All in all, we had more than 10 incidents in our parking lot with patrons robbed at gun point, 2 people shot in the stomach, and helped the cops arrest more than a dozen drug dealers over a 2 year period. Many people wanted us shut down. I stood in front of city council and had to point out that the number of issues we had were less than that of the mall down the street and if they were going to close us, they should close the mall too.
      This is a cultural issue. In the trenches of the culture war, it gets ugly. Glad to be out of it.

      Report Post »  
    • Carolina Infidel
      Posted on September 12, 2011 at 7:42am

      FLCRACKER. Great job with that video.
      Funny how they were doing a “haiti Tribute”. Things like this are just cover for these “promoters” to charge money at the door.
      Culture War issue:
      There are more than 50 “record labels” in our area. These “promoters” come to bars and say, we will bring 300 people to your place and they keep the door money. Next thing you know, the ghetto blows up on your place.
      You see all the vans driving around your area “wrapped” in hip hop graphics trying to sell albums. These guys find out they can‘t get rich like their idols and all they have to turn to is crime because the lifestyle they seek isn’t affordable on the wages that their education and labor earned them. If you ask high schoolers if they would rather be Jay-Z or Clarence Thomas, they ask, who is Clarence Thomas? Violence, disresepect and objectification for women, easy money, and drugs are what new hip hop culture has brought the world.
      These are Obama’s pawns. When things get hairy in this country, these will be the guys robbing, raping, and murdering. The one’s who get to prison become radicalized black muslims.

      Report Post »  
    • Cobra Blue
      Posted on September 12, 2011 at 7:46am

      Just put up a barrier around the joint and let them kill each other off. Barriers are cheaper than hiring more police reinforcements. .

      Report Post »  
    • Ready2Rumble
      Posted on September 12, 2011 at 8:52pm

      @ Carolina Infidel.

      I feel for you. An entrepeneur such as yourself put a lot of blood, sweat, toil, and tears into growing a business, only to have it ripped away by the government-created low element in our society. You are right – you had a ring-side seat in the culture war and I thank God that you weren’t injured.

      Report Post » Ready2Rumble  
  • W@nd@
    Posted on September 12, 2011 at 6:02am

    Have you noticed that all around the country there is shooting after shooting?
    Where there used to be maybe 5 -10 shootings in a year…
    you have that many in a week ~ if you have a slow week.
    I think if i hear another politician say
    “they are just doing the jobs americans won’t do”
    i think i will throw up on them!
    Do Americans have that big of a drug problem or
    are illegals bringing it across just as much to support their own habit?
    All the crap told to us by the dembots has made me loathe these liars!
    I will never vote for another one again…
    guess that is why the amnesty for all the illegals
    the dems are losing their voter base!
    they do not deserve the public trust!

    Report Post »  
  • vegtech
    Posted on September 12, 2011 at 4:43am

    Hello…………..Palmetto, FL is the illegal‘s labor camp’s. This area between Sarasota and Tampa/St. Pete is ridden with latino’s who work for the labor agents. If the crime needs controlled (as it does) where is the INS and Law busting the UNION Labor Camps? This is ILLEGAL UNION LABOR TERRITORY.

    Report Post » vegtech  
    • GeorgieJo
      Posted on September 12, 2011 at 10:49am

      SEIU has “office” in that area
      Demanding those illegals VOTE for Obummer…..

      Report Post »  
  • AR_OR_AK
    Posted on September 12, 2011 at 1:22am

    Can’t help but notice all the attention given to what kind of guns are being used in these type crimes. But the ONLY concern should be if it was a LEGAL gun. If not, then it’s a moot point what kind it was. After all, an AK-47 is a 7.62×39 like lots of other guns. Do you go after AK’s or ALL 7.62′s? I mean, I could go into a club and open fire with my 7.62 SKS, but it would be a bit awkward and not as “sexy” as an “assault rifle”. (and I’d only have 5 shots with it) Even tho all legal AK’s are semi-autos. But just more fuel for the lib tards to try and ban “assault rifles”.

    Report Post »  
  • Gulfdiver
    Posted on September 11, 2011 at 11:35pm

    Palm-getto is a place where crime is overtaking the CCW laws that prohibit any law obeying citizen to carry an equal defense of any known felon into a place where a crime should be legally defended or even prevented. Remember the enforcement organizations and the media do not prevent crimes they only inform us what had happened after one can investigate the aftermath…

    Report Post » Gulfdiver  
  • Mary Just
    Posted on September 11, 2011 at 9:17pm

    I could tell the previous responders were not from Fla. Chances are that this crime was committed by gang members who are foreign nationals here illegally or legally who speak or little or no English.

    Go ahead brave Americans let another 4 -5 million illegals break into your country, see what you are left with.

    Report Post »  
  • frankee47
    Posted on September 11, 2011 at 8:46pm

    close this crap hole,no more problems.

    Report Post »  
    • jjoy
      Posted on September 11, 2011 at 9:14pm

      Palmetto has been taken over by illegal mexicans… They would have to close the whole town to “fix” the problem…

      Report Post » jjoy  
  • Carp_resident
    Posted on September 11, 2011 at 8:23pm

    This is why we have the second amendment. The police can’t protect anyone especially in a quick shootout like these. If some of these people were carrying guns they might have had a chance to take one or both of these guys out before they got away. Or maybe they would have thought twice about attacking a place where they knew they might be out gunned.

    Report Post » Carp_resident  
    • Native Kennewick
      Posted on September 11, 2011 at 10:57pm

      We need to know the race of the perpetrators and the victims. Also what type of club is the Elite, what is the racial make-up of the clientele and other relevant demographics etc. etc. This story leaves too many unanswered questions.

      Report Post »  
    • Native Kennewick
      Posted on September 11, 2011 at 11:01pm

      I agree, this story makes a great case for unrestricted weapon use by non felon citizens. Outlaw weapons and the criminals will still have them and will use them illegally!

      Report Post »  
    • Bowmaster
      Posted on September 12, 2011 at 6:43am

      The only reason to carry a handgun is to fight your way to your rifle!
      You don‘t go against guys with AK’s with a handgun.
      That is called suicide.
      If you survive, you have won!
      I have carried 24/7 for the past 16 years and know a gun guarantees nothing.
      It’s just a tool, but if you think you can set aside common sense, or tactics because you have one, it can get you killed just as easily.
      Anyone who has been in combat will tell you this.

      Report Post » Bowmaster  
  • TAKE_NO_PRISONERS
    Posted on September 11, 2011 at 7:13pm

    When thug target is in crowd many get shot,some get killed ,happened in Buffalo nightclub too, awhile back.Just thug target practice when it don’t matter who dies. These are the facts, so if you live in a thug area stay away from crowds in a nightclub.I wonder was it a fast and furious AK-47?

    Report Post »  
  • Bill Rowland
    Posted on September 11, 2011 at 6:51pm

    Is this in Fredrica Wilsons district???

    Pray for our President – Psalm 109:8

    Report Post »  
    • ghost-of-elvis
      Posted on September 11, 2011 at 8:15pm

      Let his days be few; and let another take his office. very appropriate indeed.

      Report Post » ghost-of-elvis  
  • Darla_K
    Posted on September 11, 2011 at 6:48pm

    Sounds like a good place to stay away from.

    Report Post » Darla_K  
  • BlesstheJews
    Posted on September 11, 2011 at 6:38pm

    Sounds like a beer and AK-47 summit is in order.

    Report Post »  
  • Hickory
    Posted on September 11, 2011 at 6:27pm

    Just a friendly neighborhood bar in a black community. Just nice people having a good time on a weekend evening. You know, target practice and all.

    Report Post » Hickory  
  • BetsyRoss1
    Posted on September 11, 2011 at 6:05pm

    I know one of the nephews of one the wounded in the shooting! He is real close to her and said it was just crazy up there in Palmetto. It has to be a vendetta shooting.

    Report Post »  
    • KENYAN_WRECKING_BALL
      Posted on September 11, 2011 at 9:16pm

      Yep, Palmetto is just a couple exits up I75 from me. Mostly hispanic and full of gangs like ms13. I always carry when I go there. Then again, I carry everywhere I go. YES, I WILL CARRY IN ALL 57 STATES and you will never know.

      Report Post »  
  • tgp42rhr
    Posted on September 11, 2011 at 5:20pm

    Operation Fast & Furious???

    Report Post »  
    • HD Veteran
      Posted on September 11, 2011 at 7:06pm

      not a stretch for the alert and oriented

      Report Post » HD Veteran  
    • jjoy
      Posted on September 11, 2011 at 9:13pm

      Could be… Palmetto has been taken over by illegal mexicans…

      Report Post » jjoy  
  • sasquatch08
    Posted on September 11, 2011 at 5:15pm

    How long will it take for the media to start screaming about how “dangerous” an AK-47 is and how we need to reinstate the AWB post haste?

    Get your stopwatches ready kids.

    Report Post »  
  • Texas woman56
    Posted on September 11, 2011 at 5:10pm

    What about the ihop in NV? And now this shooting. Are there any fast and furious guns bought with tax money that were found.

    Report Post »  
  • YepImaConservative
    Posted on September 11, 2011 at 4:50pm

    Now why would anyone bring a loaded gun into a place where you’re only allowed to shoot blanks?

    Report Post » YepImaConservative  
  • Bonnieblue2A
    Posted on September 11, 2011 at 4:49pm

    Are any of the involved firearms out of the Tampa BATFE’s gun traffiking Operation “Castaway”?

    Report Post »  
    • CatB
      Posted on September 11, 2011 at 5:01pm

      That should be investigated … shouldn’t it! Think someone with the Obama administration is working to find out and cover it up if it was? I would bet money on it.

      Report Post »  
    • jjoy
      Posted on September 11, 2011 at 9:22pm

      If the RINOs in the “house” had any b@lls they would appoint a Special Prosecutor and start a “congressional investigation to find out how much holder and obama knew and when they knew it…

      Report Post » jjoy  
    • CatB
      Posted on September 12, 2011 at 2:59am

      JJOY … TOTALLY Agree!

      TEA!

      Report Post »  
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