A 16-year-old boy has been charged after he allegedly wielded a large knife during a scuffle with a group of men that left a Perth Westfield shopping center locked down.
An altercation broke out between two groups of men at around 3.30pm on Friday at the Westfield Carousel Shopping Center in Cannington, in the south-east of the city.
Initial reports said a 20-year-old man had been hit in the face with a knife, but police have now confirmed that his injuries were sustained as a result of the blow.
A 16-year-old boy was arrested Saturday morning and has been charged with one count of being armed in a manner likely to cause fear and one count of theft.
He has been remanded in custody and is due to appear in the Perth Children’s Court on Sunday.
The 20-year-old man allegedly knocked the knife out of the teenager’s hand and threw it away.
The teenager then allegedly grabbed a second knife, with both weapons seized by police.
A 16-year-old boy has been charged after allegedly wielding a large knife during a scuffle with a group of men at a Perth Westfield shopping centre.
“Cannington detectives would like to reassure the public that there is no ongoing threat to the public or cause for concern,” WA Police said in a statement.
Terrifying footage of the incident showed a shirtless man sprinting towards a group of people while allegedly wielding a knife.
At least one boy in a school uniform was among those fleeing the alleged knifeman.
Shoppers screamed as they took cover in nearby stores.
The shopping center was closed off on Friday afternoon and several police units arrived on the scene.
One shopper was at Jay Jays clothing store with her 13-year-old son when she saw the scuffle begin.
She said a group of men who looked about 18 or 19 years old said something to another customer.
“This guy turned around and said ‘what did you say?’ what did you say?” the woman, who wished to remain anonymous, told Daily Mail Australia.
She said the other man then met his friends and confronted the group, after which a physical fight ensued.
“They were all hitting, ripping off their jerseys and really getting into it,” she said.
‘We couldn’t get past it and I didn’t want to go the opposite way and put my back to them.
‘You don’t know what to do. I told my son, ‘Stand back, stand back.’
The woman then claimed one of them pulled a 12-inch knife from his pants.
“I told my son, ‘Run into the store and hide behind the counter.’ “I was panicking,” she said.
“I said to the assistant, ‘Call security, call security, he’s got a knife.’
The mother and her son hid in a Footlocker store with two other customers and two employees as she begged them to close the doors.
The chaos began when a scuffle began between two men, one reportedly armed with a knife, at the Westfield Carousel Shopping Center in the city’s south-east at around 3.30pm on Friday (pictured, shoppers are locked inside Kmart)
“He closed his doors, all the other stores closed their doors and these people keep fighting,” the mother said.
Police arrived at the complex and locked it down, preventing shoppers from leaving.
“The police were running up and down the elevators,” the mother said, adding that the experience left her “shaken.”
The tragic events of the Bondi Junction stabbing murders played on her mind.
“In recent weeks all you’ve heard about are stabbings or knife incidents,” she said.
“I’m just glad that we and no one around us got hurt and it wasn’t as bad as in Sydney. It all happened so quickly.’
Lone knifeman Joel Cauchi, 40, killed six people and injured another 12 in the Bondi Junction stabbing on April 13.
That was followed by a wave of knife crime incidents, including an attack on an Assyrian Christian bishop during a livestreamed church service.
The mall was put on lockdown after a teenager reportedly brandished a knife
Bishop Mar Mari Emmanuel was preaching at Christ The Good Shepherd Church in Wakeley, western Sydney, on April 15 when a teenager wearing a hoodie walked up to the altar and allegedly stabbed him several times.
Gruesome footage of the incident, which was broadcast live on the church’s YouTube page, showed Bishop Emmanuel looking up in surprise as the attacker suddenly received blows to his face and head.
In Torquay, Victoria, a man who was allegedly threatened with a knife by ex-soldier Travis Johnston while holding his 19-month-old son said he immediately thought of the Bondi Junction tragedy.
And earlier this month, surfer Kye Schaefer, 22, was stabbed at Park Beach in Coffs Harbour, NSW, at about 6.40am while still wearing his wetsuit.
