Inflation nightclub swingers party shooting new twist

TWO police officers opened fire on a couple at a Inflation Nightclub swingers party last month, sources now claim.

• CCTV probe over police at Inflation nightclub swingers party
• Police shoot two people at Melbourne nightclub
• Probe into police shooting at nightclub Saints and Sinners party continues
• Inflation nightclub Saints and Sinners police shooting under IBAC investigation

TWO police officers opened fire on a couple at Inflation Nightclub last month, sources now claim.

Industry insiders say two officers fired the three shots after storming the Saints and Sinners function at the King St venue on July 8.

It was originally thought only one officer opened fire when members of the heavily armed Critical Incident Response Team arrived at the club.

The team had been called to Inflation after what police said were “a number of phone calls” relating to a man with a firearm at the swingers night inside.

Inflation has been highly critical of police actions on the night of the shooting, which are now the subject of a major probe.

The probe is to be overseen by the force’s internal investigators and the Independent Broad-based Anti-corruption Commission.

A Victoria Police spokeswoman said: “The investigation remains ongoing and as such, it would be inappropriate to comment further”.

Dale Ewins, 35, and Zita Sukys, 37, were shot by police at the Inflation Nightclub in King St. Picture: Seven News

IBAC and Victoria Police’s professional standards command will be provided with at least four new and modified statements casting doubt on the police version of events.

They will be told shooting victim Dale Ewins was on a couch, engaged in a sex act with his partner, when police barged into the room and shot him. It can be revealed there was a strip show that night where dancers were dressed as a police SWAT team.

“When she (Zita Sukys) looked up, she didn’t flinch straight away because she may have thought it was just the dancers from earlier on in the night,” a source told the Herald Sun. “He had his head between her legs and did not have anything in his hand.”

Key to the case will also be the accounts that he was shot in the back and did not have the gun when police pulled the trigger.

The witness statements will also reveal how staff and management asked police to go and retrieve the gun, as they knew it was toy, but police denied their offer along with a suggestion to send in a plain-clothed officer.

It is understood at one point, a staff member went into the room and fluffed up pillows while the pair were intimate and did not see the gun.

Investigators probing the incident will be told how police stormed past staff and security to get into the room, shone a torch on the couple and opened fire.

Mr Ewins, 35, has had half his bowel removed and undergone shoulder reconstruction surgery. Partner Ms Sukys, 37, was also injured in the ­shooting and suffered injuries to her leg.

The witness statements are in stark contrast with what Superintendent Lisa Hardeman said following the incident.

“Police called on the male, the male took the firearm from his pants and aimed it at police,” she said.

[e-mail]