“We are working closely with Westfield. It may be fortuitous, but Wednesday week ago we had an exercise with Westfield where we basically ran through an incident that involved an active armed offender here at Westfield.”
Joy, a long-time local resident, was at the shopping centre’s Kmart when the emergency was announced.
She estimated about 100 shoppers were in the Kmart and moved to the back of the store.
“They just kept saying over the loudspeaker that there was an emergency and I don’t think people really believed it until they actually pulled the doors down on the store,” Joy said.
“Once they pulled the doors down, then people realised something was happening.
“Nobody has really panicked and you can’t fault the Kmart staff; they have been absolutely excellent.
“They have kept everybody calm, they are feeding us and handing out blankets to those who are cold. The staff have been brilliant, absolutely brilliant.”
Seven News Adelaide published videos of what it said were officers from the police special tasks and rescue unit inside the shopping centre.
The police were wearing tactical gear, brandishing guns and carrying shields in the vision, which also shows shops with shutters down and an empty-seeming shopping centre.
Joy said about 5pm (AEST) she and other shoppers had been locked down in the store for about an hour while police continued their operations and they would not be able to leave until police declared it safe to do so.
“I’m sure people are shaken, but they have just been chatting or talking with family on the phone.
“We don’t know what is going on. You hear bits and pieces but they [the staff] said they will keep us updated. They just said that until we get clearance from police, we can’t let you out. That’s fine. They have been more than helpful.”
A police website says the special tasks and rescue unit’s duties include the apprehension of armed offenders.
Other videos on social media show panicked shoppers running through the shopping centre as an alarm sounds.
The incident comes 2½ months after Joel Cauchi fatally stabbed six people at Sydney’s Bondi Junction Westfield on the first Saturday of the school holidays.
Armed with a hunting knife, Cauchi also left more than a dozen people wounded before he was shot dead by Bondi police officer Inspector Amy Scott.
In the wake of the attack, Westfield promised to beef up its security nationwide.
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