A CELEBRITY-studded event staged in a Paddington nightclub came to a
frightening halt when 20 masked men armed with guns and metal bars
stormed the party.

Police were called to the newly re-opened Goodbar nightclub on
Oxford St shortly after midnight on Wednesday when two shots were
reported to be fired in the club.

Model Cheyenne Tozzi, Home and Away star Kate Ritchie and the Sneaky
Sound System were just some of the A-list guests at the Converse
Product Red launch.

It wasn't just the cocktails that were shaken when the hooded
bandits raided the packed nightspot - firing several shots into the
ceiling, smashing fittings and blocking the exits.

"Everyone thought someone had actually been shot because it was so
well executed," one guest, who wished to remain nameless, told The
Daily Telegraph's Sydney Confidential yesterday.

"People were on the ground, (others were) stomping over each other
trying to get to the exit. We tried to get out but the other two
(bandits) had shut and blocked the exits - it was terrifying."

Two men arrested in connection with the raid were released yesterday
morning. However, police said they had not finished investigating
the incident.

Goodbar proprietor Alex Lambrechts, who oversaw the club's makeover
and reopening just two weeks ago, denied the attack was related to
the club's violent past.

In May 1998, teenager Chris Toumazis was shot dead outside the
Oxford St venue.

A month later another man was stabbed on a dance floor - forcing the
club to introduce metal detectors at the door.

"Police don't believe us to be a dangerous venue and we're not going
to be scared off by this," Lambrechts said.

Goodbar was open for trading last night.

From Sydney Confidential
March 16, 2007

http://www.news.com.au/story/0,23599,21388715-2,00.html