A man is in police custody after an alleged rampage at a Sunshine Coast shopping centre, where customers were allegedly threatened with scissors.
Police say charges are yet to be laid and they are investigating the incident at Kawana Shoppingworld.
Witnesses have told the ABC the rampage went on for about 20 minutes.
Tahlia Brannelly said she saw a man walking through the shopping centre yelling expletives.
She said he threw food at people in the centre and a coffee shop before entering a kitchen store.
“[He was] throwing items and pushed over a stand there, then exited with what I believed was scissors,” Ms Brannelly said.
“[He was] lunging towards people.”
She said a group of men followed the man out of the centre armed with chairs and signs, making a citizens’ arrest in the car park before police arrived.
A security guard said he had chased the man before members of the public stepped in to help.
“He wasn’t stopping,” the security guard said. “People were scared.”
Man subdued in car park
Butcher shop worker Darren Burnett said he heard yelling and things breaking at the nearby kitchen store.
“All of a sudden, I saw people coming out, I thought to myself, ‘This is weird, there’s a lot of people being ushered out’,” he said.
“Then yeah, he’s rushed out, thrown everything on the ground as he’s ran out of the shop.
“Everyone was screaming and carrying on, then he’s run out to the car park.”
Mr Burnett said he didn’t think twice, following the man out of the centre with a group of other men who were armed with chairs and signs.
“I just poked my head out to see what was going on and thought, is there anything I could do to help?” he said.
“So I followed him out to the car park and myself and a few other gentlemen have subdued him in the car park until the police came.
“It got to that point where this isn’t just a small, this is quite a major incident. We saw what happened in Bondi, we don’t want that to happen here.”
Police have confirmed the man is in custody following the incident.
A Queensland Police Service spokesperson said officers were called to the shopping centre after reports of a man armed with scissors causing a disturbance and making threats.
No-one was physically injured during the incident.
Shopping centre owner Mirvac said a security team had responded immediately and police were called.
“We would like to thank our team, our retailers and our customers for their quick response,” a Mirvac spokesperson said.
“As this is now a police matter we are unable to provide further comment.
“The safety of our customers, retailers and staff is of the highest importance.”
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