When a Laval strip club reopened its doors last week after being destroyed in a 2003 fire, some residents feared the worst. They were worried that street gangs, criminals and drug dealers would frequent the club and make the Vieux Ste. Rose area unsafe. The residents’ concerns appear to have been well founded. Just a few days after the Studio 300 strip club reopened, gunmen opened fire early Sunday morning, injuring four people. About 150 people were in the club on Ste. Rose Blvd. when the shots were fired, said Laval police Constable Franco Di Genova. Two men in their mid-20s were shot in the abdomen and a woman, also in her mid-20s, was cut by shattered glass. They were listed in stable condition Sunday. A fourth victim called police from his car on Ste. Rose Blvd. in the Auteuil district of Laval to say he had been shot in the bar. “It’s a shame that a bar of that kind is allowed to be in the Vieux Ste. Rose area,” said David De Cotis, president of Mouvement lavallois, an opposition party with no elected members. De Cotis said the city should have done more to prevent the strip club from reopening. After the fire, the city did try to stop the owners from reopening by refusing to grant them a permit to rebuild. However, in 2008, the case went to court and a judge ruled that the owners had acquired rights and could rebuild the strip club. The owners did not return a phone call from The Gazette Sunday. The city should have negotiated with the owners to buy the land or have it rezoned to prevent the strip club from operating in what has become a popular area with families and tourists, De Cotis said. “There is an old church and nice restaurants; it’s a nice place where families come because there are a lot of activities,” he said. Alain Lecompte, a Ste. Rose resident, said he hopes the city can do something to force the bar to close or have it moved to a more commercial area. “It is very worrying,” he said of the shootings. Denis Robillard, the city councillor for the area, was unavailable for comment on Sunday. When police arrived at the club Sunday morning, dozens of people were running in and out. Witnesses told police that three suspects fled in a car, and were able to provide police with a licence plate number. Police arrested the men about an hour later in Boisbriand. The three men, in their mid-20s, were being questioned Sunday in connection with the shootings. The men are known to police, Di Genova said, adding that detectives found “elements” inside the club indicating that street gangs may have been involved. Police plan to keep a close eye on the strip club in the coming days and weeks, he said. Di Genova said police had been to the original Studio 300 to break up fights between rowdy customers, but can’t remember if there had been any shootings in the strip club prior to Sunday.