03-06-2025
Dubbo Show 'stabbing list' not connected to CBD incident, NSW Police say
A "stabbing list" posted to social media before a local show in western NSW is not related to an alleged stabbing in the same town over the weekend, NSW Police say.
The now-deleted anonymous post titled "Dubbo Show stabbing list 2025" was shared on Tuesday last week in a Dubbo community forum on Facebook ahead of the city's three-day event from Friday.
Sixteen individuals were named in what police are treating as a threat.
"Police are currently investigating the stab list, the source, and the authors," Orana Mid-Western Police Superintendent Timothy Chinn said.
Three men were stabbed in Dubbo's CBD in the early hours of Saturday, with police saying they were expected to make full recoveries.
Superintendent Chinn said there was "no connection whatsoever" to the social media post.
"All I can say is the incidents were totally unrelated," he said.
Police arrested two men, aged 27 and 23, in Dubbo on Saturday night and charged both with multiple offences, including three counts each of reckless wounding.
They will face Dubbo Local Court on June 19.
Three men in their 20s were taken to Dubbo Hospital with stab wounds.
Superintendent Chinn said the CBD incident was not random, as three of the men were known to each other.
He said the "stabbing list" was not the reason for a police "wanding" operation during Dubbo Show, during which 120 people were scanned for weapons on Friday and Saturday nights.
Operation Ares allowed officers to scan people with handheld metal detectors without a warrant.
"That was actually planned already this weekend," Superintendent Chinn said.
"Dubbo Show is one of the largest events for the Dubbo community and Operation Ares had already formed part of the high-visibility policing strategies around that."
From the random scans, no knives or weapons were found.
"I was very pleased to see that," he said.
"The indication that based on a large sample of people attending the show that those people didn't have any weapons on them, is a good indication for the show and the safety of the event."
Show organisers said more than 29,000 people attended the event over the weekend, including volunteers and exhibitors.
Official figures show knife crime in NSW has declined significantly in the past 20 years.
According to the NSW Bureau of Crime Statistics and Research, there were 1,531 assaults and robberies involving knives in 2024, down almost 65 per cent from 4,307 recorded in 2005.
"I think social media plays a part in people's perception of what is actually happening in the community," Superintendent Chinn said.
"We as police services need to do more work in reassuring the community on the reality of the statistics and reassuring them that crime hasn't been increasing in recent years."
