Shocking footage has emerged of the moment three armed boys confronted another group of teens in a Westfield shopping centre, plunging it into lockdown and leaving shoppers to run for their lives.
Westfield Marion in Adelaide was evacuated on Sunday after an altercation broke out and the two groups of teens began chasing each other throughout the centre.
Footage of the incident filmed by shoppers in the packed food court showed youths fighting before one group drew their weapons, which police said included extendable batons and potentially a knife.
Dozens of horrified shoppers watched on while others appeared to be oblivious to the chaos that unfolded metres away.
Footage has also emerged of heavily armed police from the Special Tasks and Rescue Group racing into the centre with their guns drawn shortly afterwards.
Customers were immediately ordered to leave or bunker down in locked stores as the centre began its evacuation procedures, triggering memories of the recent Westfield Bondi Junction stabbing rampage in Sydney, which claimed six innocent lives.
A manhunt was immediately launched for the armed teens, who remained on the run early Monday morning, despite a public plea from police to hand themselves in.
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Hundreds of people who were crammed into shuttered stores shared photos of the experience online.
They remained locked inside stores for two hours before police declared the vicinity safe shortly after 5pm, sparking emotional reunions with loved ones who had rushed to the scene.
Several shoppers said that the panic caused by the evacuation was more distressing than the boys fighting.
‘People were certainly panicked and running to all the exits,’ one eyewitness told the Advertiser.
Another man who was there with his his wife and eight-year-old son said that being locked in a sports store had made his wife ‘nervous as all s**t’.
Chloe Andrews was among shoppers who ended locked up in a Kmart stock room.
‘I came to Marion to buy a new bin, and it’s ended with myself and like 200 other people in Kmart’s stock room as there is someone armed with a weapon in Marion,’ she said.
‘So anyone thinking of heading this way…just don’t. I’m petrified’.
Karmal Dhaliwal, who owns Curry Choice in the food court recalled seeing one boy chasing another with what appeared to be a long knife.
‘They were trying to attack him and he was running away,’ she said.
Shortly after the boys ran past her store Ms Dhaliwal said that she saw a ‘breathless’ security guard who was telling everyone to evacuate immediately.
She now wants an increased security presence at the shopping centre entrances in the wake of Sunday’s ordeal and the deadly Westfield Bondi Junction shooting in April.
‘We were really scared. It is not safe working in shopping centres anymore, these things could be prevented,’ Ms Dhaliwal said.
‘These things could be prevented.
‘When things like this happen people are afraid to go to the shopping centre for a few days after and it affects our business.’
Peter Scott, who was working in Shoe Express, said that he saw ‘at least 100 humans charging towards me’ as shoppers tried fleeing the area.
Terry Field was was celebrating a family members birthday when they were ushered into a store and made to wait for 90 minutes before being able to leave during the lockdown.
‘Totally irresponsible youths at Westfield Marion today caused public chaos and fear … impacts of their actions on the public can’t be undone,’ Mr Field wrote online.
‘Thoughtless, selfish s***s.’
Another shopper who was in Event Cinemas at the time slammed the cinema company for sending an email asking how they enjoyed their time at the movies.
The email asked if the patron could provide feedback on his viewing of Inside Out 2.
‘Super insensitive considering we are dealing with traumatised kids who had to evacuate this session in a frantic stampede,’ Tony Brown wrote.
South Australian Police Assistant Commissioner Scott Duval said it did not appear the teens were intending to cause harm to bystanders.
‘The incident really involved three boys approaching another group of boys, We’re not clear on the intention of that at this stage but I stress that it does not appear to be a random attack and it does not appear that the three boys were intending on targeting anyone else in the centre,’ he told reporters on Sunday night.
‘So I encourage these boys to hand themselves into police, perhaps they did not intend for this incident to occur but they need to understand the consequences of their actions.’
Paramedics at the scene treated a woman in her 70s with a shoulder injury and a person in their 30s with a knee injury.
A teenage, girl, 14 was also understood to have suffered a minor injury.
All three were believed to have been injured during the evacuation.
Assistant Commissioner Duval said three boys from the group that initiated the fight were armed with extendable batons. He said a knife may have also been used in the altercation.
The two groups ran through the shopping centre before arriving at David Jones where bystanders said they saw a security guard in pursuit.
Heavily armed officers from the Special Tasks and Rescue Group arrived shortly after and began ushering shoppers towards exits and safe locations.
A police spokesperson said the shopping centre had been declared safe by 5pm and that everyone still inside the Westfield were able to leave.
They added that the evacuation had been a success, despite being unable to locate the armed trio
‘As a result of the incident, centre management activated an audible alert and evacuation alarm, and the centre went into lockdown,’ police said.
‘Numerous police resources including STAR Group officers attended the centre to commence a search for the groups involved in the initial disturbance.
‘A thorough search of the centre was conducted, including rooftops, however the groups involved were not located.’
Westfield Marion is expected to reopen on Monday.
‘The safety of our customers, business partners and people is our highest priority,’ a Westfield Marion spokesman said.
‘Our team have been providing their full support to SA Police this afternoon who attended an incident at Westfield Marion.
‘Please note, Westfield Marion closed at 5pm today, in line with normal trading hours, and will re-open for trade as normal tomorrow.’
Westfield Marion is a major shopping hub in the city’s southern suburbs, about 12km from the CBD.
It is one of South Australia’s largest shopping centres and it contains more than 340 stores.
Police conducted an active armed offender training drill at the centre in mid June.
Assistant Commissioner Duval said that the drill was effective and helped specialist police in evacuating the shopping centre on Sunday.