Two men were in custody yesterday for a shooting that wounded three men - one critically - early yesterday in Old City, police said.

The shooting stemmed from an argument outside an undisclosed Old City nightclub about 2:30 a.m., police said.

Authorities said they were initially called to Chestnut Street near Front, across from Penn's Landing, but subsequently responded about a half-mile away, to Letitia Street near New, where they found three men with gunshot wounds.

A 25-year-old man who was shot in the stomach remained in critical condition yesterday at Hahnemann University Hospital.

His two companions - a 22-year-old man who was shot in the shoulder and suffered a graze wound to the jaw, and a 25-year-old man who was shot in the leg - remained in stable condition at Thomas Jefferson University Hospital, police said.

Shortly after the shooting, police said, officers on club detail stopped two men along Market Street, one of whom was armed, fitting the descriptions of the assailants.

The men, both 28 but neither named by police, were positively identified by the victims, Central Detectives said.

Although only one of the two is believed to be the shooter, police said both were charged with aggravated assault, recklessly endangering another person and related offenses.