Couple shot at Melbourne nightclub swingers’ party break silence
A COUPLE shot by police at a Melbourne nightclub swingers’ party have broken their silence, with Zita Sukys, 37, describing how her leg burst open “like a flower” after officers fired at her.
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A WOMAN shot twice by police at a nightclub swingers’ party has told how her leg burst open “like a flower”.
Zita Sukys, 37, and her boyfriend Dale Ewins, 35, were engaged in a sex act when they were shot at the Saints and Sinners party in the CBD, in the early hours of July 8.
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The couple, dressed as comic-book villains at the fancy-dress event at Inflation in King St, have spoken out for the first time, revealing details of their horrific injuries and ongoing pain.
“They blew my leg apart,” said Ms Sukys. “I am mentally paralysed. I can’t do anything.”
Ms Sukys was shot in the right knee and thigh, and Mr Ewins was shot twice in the back, leaving him with a perforated bowel and fractured shoulder.
Mr Ewins said: “We are both parents. This isn’t what we expected for a night out.”
The couple are suing Victoria Police over the nightclub shooting, sparked after Mr Ewins allegedly pointed what appeared to be a real gun at officers.
Mr Ewins and Ms Sukys categorically deny that claim and are shocked that Victoria Police are defending the shooting as “lawful self-defence”.
“It’s alarming to learn that the people responsible for protecting the community and upholding the law will lie and hide the truth rather than accept responsibility for recklessly shooting and nearly killing two innocent people,” they told the Herald Sun.
Graphic images seen by the Herald Sun reveal the injuries suffered by Mr Ewins, a barman and father of a four-year-old girl.
Surgeons had to cut through his abdomen to remove bullet fragments. He has been left with extensive scarring on his shoulder, back and stomach and is yet to undergo a shoulder reconstruction.
“I can’t even lift a shopping bag. We both have children and mortgages … I have no capacity to work,” he said.
“It’s taken away our quality of life,” he said.
Ms Sukys, a public servant with daughters aged 8 and 10, has been left with nerve damage in her leg, now marked with two large scars.
The Lithuanian Sports Club president has been forced to retire from all sports and take leave from work as she recovers from her traumatic injuries.
“My scars are horrible. I’m disgusted. When people ask how I got them, they are shocked,” she said.
“Before the shooting, I was a good organiser, but now I struggle with everyday tasks.”
Officers arrived at the nightclub after reports a man inside had a gun. The pistol — later discovered to be a toy — was part of Mr Ewin’s Joker costume. Ms Sukys was dressed as Harley Quinn.
Mr Ewins said of his toy gun: “It was checked by two security guards at the door. They said, ‘That’s fine’. It weighed like 10 grams. It was very obviously fake.”
Legal documents lodged by Victoria Police at the Supreme Court state Mr Ewins was shot after he reached under a cushion and pointed what looked like a real gun at the officers.
Mr Ewins says he was punched in the head and tasered in the chest after being shot.
The police defence states Critical Incident Response Team officers acted in self-defence in “fear for their lives”.