Police said they have funnelled “a lot of resources” into tracking down the males involved and warned their friends and family to urge them to come forward.
“Anyone known to the people in that vehicle, if you know those people tell them to come forward to the police, we want to speak to those people,” Von Tunk said.
Two 15-year-old girls were arrested after trying to flee the scene.Credit: Nine News
The teenage girls are known to police and were taken to hospital under police guard before being released and taken into custody.
Housing Minister Harriet Shing said the collision was “absolutely devastating” and asked anyone who had information to come forward. “We want to make sure that we are able to understand what happened,” she told reporters.
“We have the lowest youth offending rate in Australia, however, we also know that it is a very small group who are persistent offenders.”
Loading
Child and youth crime has continued to rise in Victoria over the past year, according to figures released by the Crime Statistics Agency in June.
The number of offenders in the 15 to 17 age cohort in the 12-month period has risen by almost 25 per cent to 15,495.
However, a core group of repeat offenders committed more serious and violent crimes, including robberies, aggravated burglaries, and car thefts, predominantly in the east and outer-southeast suburbs, the data revealed.