Assistant Commissioner Luke Cornelius admitted police "stuffed up" the raid on LGBTI bookshop Hares & Hyenas in Fitzroy and personally visited the shop on Monday to apologise to Mr Dimopoulos' housemates. "I said to the gentleman there that of course I was very sorry about what had happened, in particular very sorry about the injuries their friend has suffered," Mr Cornelius told reporters outside the shop. "I’m very keen to hear from them if there’s anything I can do to ... make a bad situation better." Nik Dimopoulos was inside his Fitzroy home when he was set upon by officers chasing an offender. Credit:ninevms Police stormed the apartment attached to the bookshop on Johnston Street about 2am on Saturday while searching for what residents were told was an "armed member of a 'Lebanese' gang".

Mr Dimopoulos was seriously injured by police in the arrest. Surgeons were forced to take bone grafts and insert pins to repair Mr Dimopoulos' badly shattered arm and shoulder. Lawyer Jeremy King told The Age on Monday that Mr Dimopoulos was "not doing well" and could be in hospital for days. But Mr King also said the response from Victoria Police following the incident, in particular from Mr Cornelius, had been exceptional. Crusader Hillis Credit:Rachel Eddie "I've been working with police and accountability for 10 years and I've never seen Luke Cornelius or Victoria Police apologise so quickly and so magnanimously," he said.

Friends say Mr Dimopoulos, who is well known as a pioneer of Melbourne's gay dance party scene, feared he was the target of a hate crime and ran from the apartment. He and his two housemates, including prominent gay writer and activist Crusader Hillis, were asleep in their beds when police forced their way into the apartment. "By the time I got there, he was bunched into the gutter with hands in plastic restraints," Mr Hillis said. "There were several armed police around him, some dressed in riot gear and semi-automatic weapons." Messages of support have flooded in for Nik Dimopoulos Credit:Rachel Eddie Mr Hillis, still shaken from the ordeal, welcomed a steady stream of well-wishers to the shop on Monday. When The Age visited, a male couple, strangers to Mr Hillis, introduced themselves to him and offered their support.

"[The response] is not at all unexpected, but overwhelming," Mr Hillis said. Loading "And the community response goes from the highest levels of the Victorian State Government, across Government bodies, through to the whole LGTBI community and queer communities. It's been absolutely intense the level of support." Mr Cornelius told a Monday morning press conference that it was "very clear to us that police stuffed this one up." The officers involved have not been suspended, a decision that will be made by Professional Standards Command.

"They are not decisions that we rush into, and in fairness to our members, we have to afford them procedural fairness. We can't pre-judge this thing." Mr King said the men were considering their legal options and would "not let this matter rest until those involved have been held accountable". He said the victims were satisfied there was no element of homophobia in the raid, but said the incident raised concerns about racial profiling. Fitzroy bookshop, Hares & Hyenas. Credit:Chris Hopkins Multiple specialist units, including the dog squad and air wing, were searching properties around Johnston Street for an "armed member of a Lebanese gang", who was seen in a stolen car linked to a violent home invasion and carjacking in Brighton East on May 5.