Man dies in group fight outside Canberra nightclub
A man has died outside a Canberra nightclub in the early hours of Sunday morning after a “disturbance”.
ACT Police responded to an incident in Civic about 12.05am (local time) on Sunday.
Paramedics were also called to the scene and treated two injured men.
One of the men died at the scene a short time after emergency services arrived, ACT Police said in a statement.
The other man was treated by paramedics at the scene and was taken to hospital.
The venue where the death happened was reportedly at Kokomo’s on Genge Street, which reopened following the coronavirus lockdown on June 24.
ACT Policing’s Detective Superintendent Matt Reynolds said the death was being treated as suspicious, but the cause of death was yet to be determined.
Various media outlets have reported the deceased man was stabbed, but Det Reynolds would not confirm this at Sunday’s press conference.
He could not confirm the identity of the deceased man as he is yet to be formally identified.
“Out of respect to his family and friends we would like to do that [formally identify the deceased] before providing further information,” Det Reynolds said.
Det Reynolds said the second man suffered non-life threatening injuries.
Police believe there was an altercation inside the venue and the deceased was “later located outside” the venue.
Det Reynolds added the investigation would explore whether the incident was connected to motorcycle gangs and presently police were “not ruling anything out”.
He said CCTV footage of the incident showed “quite a number of people [were] involved in the disturbance”.
Det Reynolds said there were a number of witnesses at the venue at the time of the incident and investigators were urging anyone with information or footage to come forward.
This is the second death to happen at a licensed venue this month in the ACT.
Warren Hordpenko, from Dalmeny on the NSW south coast, was killed after an altercation at the Kingston Hotel on July 5.
“It is concerning that we have had two deaths at two licensed premises, I would like to say they are unrelated to each other,” Det Reynolds said.
“Two people have lost their lives, we are putting all our resources into investigating that.”
The crime scene has been established and police remained at the scene on Sunday morning.
Anyone who may have any information, footage of the incident, or dash-cam footage from the area, that could assist police is asked to contact Crime Stoppers on 1800 333 000, or via the Crime Stoppers ACT website. Please quote reference 6578758.
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