a day ago
Kids allegedly spotted carrying lethal weapons at a busy shopping centre just days after they were banned
A popular Melbourne shopping centre was sent into lockdown on Friday evening after a group of boys were seen allegedly carrying machetes days after a ban came into effect.
The group of five-to-six boys were seen arguing inside Caroline Springs Shopping Centre in the west Melbourne suburb of Caroline Springs, at about 6.40pm.
A Victoria Police spokesperson told Daily Mail Australia the boys were believed to have been armed with machetes and had fled by the time officers arrived at the scene.
CCTV footage obtained by Nine News showed shoppers and retailers as they scrambled to avoid the armed mob who appeared to threaten one another.
'I feel so scared... I just quickly go and shut the cafe and tell my other staff "don't leave",' witness Pawan Kaur told Nine.
Witness Hung Nguyen watched on in horror as a boy pulled what he believed to be a machete from his backpack before tensions spilled over.
'I can't believe it did happen,' he said.
Shoppers affected by the lockdown plastered news of the incident across social media as the events unfolded.
The popular Melbourne shopping centre was plunged into lockdown following reports of a group of boys carrying machetes
'Another machete attack while I was getting my noodle on,' one TikTok user wrote in a video filmed inside the shopping centre as the lockdown announcement played over the loudspeakers.
While no injuries were reported, the incident called into question the effectiveness of a ban on the sale of machetes by the Victorian government.
The ban followed a clash between suspected rival youth gangs alleged to have been carrying the weapons at Northland shopping centre in Preston on May 25.
Footage from inside the popular mall depicted shoppers running for cover as a group of seven males, aged between 15 and 21, squared-off.
The following day Premier Jacinta Allan announced her government would bring forward the machete ban until a permanent ban takes effect on September 1.
'In Victoria, community safety comes first. We must never let places we meet become places we fear,' Ms Allan said last Monday.
'I hate these knives, and I will keep introducing as many laws as it takes to get them off our streets, out of our shops and out of our lives.'
Investigations into the Caroline Springs incident remain ongoing.
