A traumatised couple who were shot at by police while attending a swingers’ party have revealed the extent of their horrific injuries.
Zita Sukys, 37, and her boyfriend Dale Ewins, 35, were at a ‘Saints and Sinners Ball’ at a Melbourne nightclub when police opened fire, shooting Ms Sukys in her leg and at Mr Ewins’ torso.
Five months after the ordeal, the couple have broken their silence and opened up about their shotgun injuries which have left them both physically and mentally scarred.
Zita Sukys, 37, and her boyfriend Dale Ewins, 35, (both pictured) were at a ‘Saints and Sinners Ball’ at a Melbourne nightclub when police opened fire, shooting Ms Sukys in her leg and at Mr Ewins’ torso.
Ms Sukys (pictured) attended the swingers’ event while dressed as the comic book character Harley Quinn
‘They blew my leg apart,’ Ms Sukys told the Herald Sun. ‘I am mentally paralysed. I can’t do anything.’
‘My scars are horrible. I’m disgusted. When people ask how I got them, they are shocked.’
The couple were dressed as comic-book characters while at a swinger’s event at Inflation on King St in Melbourne’s CBD when police stormed the venue.
Mr Ewins purportedly brought along a toy gun as part of his outfit which officers believed was a real weapon.
The mother-of-two was shot in her right knee and thigh, while Mr Ewins was hit twice in his back, leaving him with a perforated bowel and fractured shoulder.
Ms Sukys described her leg as ‘opening up like a flower’ as the bullet tore through her skin.
‘They blew my leg apart,’ Ms Sukys told the Herald Sun. ‘I am mentally paralysed. I can’t do anything.’
The mother-of-two was shot in her right knee and thigh, while Mr Ewins was hit twice in his back, leaving him with a perforated bowel and fractured shoulder
Her partner – who is a father-of-one – said his extensive injuries have also had a debilitating effect on his life.
Surgeons were forced to cut through Mr Ewins’ abdomen to remove bullet fragments and he requires a shoulder reconstruction.
‘I can’t even lift a shopping bag. We both have children and mortgages… I have no capacity to work,’ he told the publication.
Leaked CCTV footage revealed police took just 32 seconds to enter the swingers’ ball and shoot the couple.
Ms Sukys was seen being carted from the hospital with the help of paramedics after the shooting
Surgeons were forced to cut through Mr Ewins’ (pictured) abdomen to remove bullet fragments and he requires a shoulder reconstruction
The couple were dressed as comic-book characters while at a swinger’s event at Inflation on King St in Melbourne’s CBD when police stormed the venue (Ms Sukys pictured left and right)
Club owner Martha Tsamis said Mr Ewins was ‘not holding anything in his hand but rather he was in a compromising position with his female partner’ at the time.
CCTV did not show whether the man brandished the gun at the officers, as police have claimed.
Mr Ewins claims he was also punched in the head and tasered in the torso after being shot.
The couple are now attempting to sue Victoria Police over the nightclub shooting.
However officers who were at the scene say they were acting in ‘lawful self-defence’.