(QMI Agency)

BRAMPTON, ONT. - A night of booty shaking ended with bullets flying as three women were shot while enjoying a night of dancing at Brampton’s only strip joint early Wednesday.

Peel Regional Police reported the gunfire erupted shortly before 1:30 a.m. inside The Office Gentlemen’s Club, sending patrons running for their lives.

“When we arrived on scene, there was people running from the establishment,” Const. George Tudos said Wednesday at the strip club.

“We arrived on scene and located three victims as a result of shots being fired within the premise,” Tudos said.

He confirmed the victims were all female and not dancers employed by the club.

The injured women were among the more than 200 customers who were drawn to the club for a weekly event dubbed “Twerk It Tuesday,” Tudos explained.

“They were all transported to a Brampton hospital, two of them in critical condition,” he said.

It’s believed one woman was shot in her shoulder, another was hit in her arm and the third in her chest.

The two most seriously hurt have since been stabilized, Tudos said. The third victim is “expected to make a full recovery.”

The Office -- which has clubs in New York City, Miami and Atlanta -- has been hosting Twerk It Tuesday at its recently opened Brampton location since early December, according to the strip club’s Facebook page.

The strip joint is typically packed with women, as well as men, for the events -- a night that allows amateurs the opportunity to show off their dance moves and win cash prizes.

Tudos wasn’t immediately able to say if the club has surveillance cameras and no description of the person who pulled the trigger was released.

“We’re still waiting to speak with more witnesses,” Tudos said, urging anyone who fled the club to “do the right thing” and contact investigators.

Exactly what prompted the shooting remains a mystery.

chris.doucette@sunmedia.ca