Third boy charged over Westfield emergency

A third teenager has been arrested following a fight in the food court of South Australia’s largest shopping centre sent the complex into lockdown.

The incident kicked off about 3pm on Sunday afternoon after three boys allegedly approached another group of boys at the Westfield Marion centre’s food court armed with “expandable batons”.

South Australian Police Assistant Commissioner Scott Duval said a scuffle occurred and there were reports of a knife.

The violence triggered Westfield’s emergency lockdown and evacuation procedures, with alarms blaring throughout the centre and major storefronts locking their doors to keep shoppers safe.

Heavily armed specialist tactical officers stormed the centre and swept through it across the afternoon to find the alleged offenders, but they were not located in the shopping centre.

Following investigations, two boys, aged 15 and 16, of Mitchell Park and Adelaide, were arrested and charged with assault, affray and aggravated robbery.

Police have seized two expandable batons.

The two teens appeared in the Adelaide Youth Court on Monday.

SA Police said after further investigations, a 15-year-old boy from Morphett Vale was also arrested.

He was also charged with assault, affray and aggravated robbery.

“It will be alleged the incident arose as a result of a robbery of clothing from one of the victims,” police said in a statement.

“The incident is not believed to be random.”

Assistant Commissioner Duval said police knew the identity of a third offender, and encouraged him to turn himself in.

“His identity is known, and at some point we will catch up with him,” he told Today.

‘SCREAMING’: HOW CHAOS UNFOLDED

Mark and Annette Angelis told Today they were in the food court with their children as the melee unfolded.

Mark said he was sitting near Subway when he saw a group of boys in the middle of the food court get up and “rush, rapidly” and begin chasing each other.

“I lost sight of them momentarily until they got out of there in front of the KFC side of things, where one of the kids seemed to swing some sort of weapon, which now we know it was a baton, but narrowly missing this kid,” he said.

Annette said she had been in the parent’s bathroom with one of the couple’s children and could not hear the first announcement activating the centre’s emergency protocol.

“With the second one, the announcer was, a bit like screaming and saying, to evacuate,” she said.

“There was an exit near where our table was. And I just dragged my kids go to go there. And I was really scared because I didn’t know anything about what’s going on.”

EERIE DETAIL IN LOCKDOWN CHAOS

In a chilling twist, officers had been at the centre just 10 days earlier, preparing for this exact scenario.

“The active armed offender scenario … is very much about training for this kind of activity,” Assistant Commissioner Duval said.

He praised Scentre, who own the complex, for its emergency procedures and said the heavy police response was “absolutely” justified.

“We live in uncertain times and it is our job to ensure community safety,” he said.

He also said the Bondi Westfield massacre in April had informed Sunday’s response.

On April 13, Joel Cauchi rampaged through the Bondi centre attacking shoppers with a knife.

He murdered six people and put 12 people, including a baby, in hospital. He was shot dead by police in the shopping centre.

“These types of reactions to these incidents very much are influenced by incidents like Bondi,” he said.

Speaking on Today, security expert Dr Philip Boss said the ability of the alleged offenders to cause any more harm was “significantly reduced” by the actions of shopping centre staff and police.

“I think in this case, it is clear that the time of the action of the offenders was significantly reduced, their range of movement was reduced and may have even fled the shopping centre due to the actions of security,” he said.

Dr Boss said it was also clear Westfield had established clear guidelines to respond to incidents such as these, and was “working to a plan” as it responded on Sunday, with the response proportionate to the limited information available.

“You have to take a very strong approach when you don’t have full information to make sure that all bases are covered,” he said.

“If you precisely knew that it was three offenders, as the assistant commissioner spoke of on TV, and that they were targeting other boys and that it was very restricted, then that’s hindsight benefit. Shoppers, the public want to know that if there is not perfect information, you’re acting as if it was a worst-case scenario.

“And though that looks a little bit like a melee and a little bit over proportionate response, it’s better than the other case that happened last time we saw this incident.”

COPS VOW TO FIND YOUTHS

Assistant Commissioner Scott Duval said on Sunday evening he was confident all involved would be found by police.

“These three boys chased the other boys through the centre, and through the CCTV we were able to see they entered the David Jones store and that was the first part of our focus of where we put our specialist attention, to start clearing the centre to ensure the safety of all people could be ensured,” he said.

“I would say that it is clear from the vision this is not a random attack.

“The boys would appear to be known to each other but obviously we are in the early days of the investigation of the incident and we have investigators here again reviewing the CCTV, trying to make sure the information we have can be verified in some way.”

He said there were no reports of injuries from the altercation, but a 70-year-old woman and teenage girl had suffered injuries during the evacuation process.

SA Ambulance confirmed it had treated two patients from the scene.

CHAOS SHARED ONLINE

As the incident unfolded on Sunday afternoon, video of the terrifying moments quickly circulated across social media.

Heavily armed STAR officers storm into the centre and sirens can be heard going off in the centre as shoppers scramble to flee.

Other footage from the centre posted to social media shows people locked down and waiting in the Target staffroom.

A photo from the scene shows a billboard warning: “Armed Offender: Escape, Hide, Tell”.

One shopper, posting to social media, writes: “I’m in here, they are evacuating everyone in here”.

Photos from the scene show armed police officers inside the building and worried shoppers who have fled the centre.

Another shopper told reporters of the chaos that unfolded.

“We could just saw random people running everywhere, and my friend grabbed me and we just ran out here,” he said.

Assistant Commissioner Duval said the boys would need to face “the consequences of their actions”.

“I encourage these boys to hand themselves into police,” he said.

“Perhaps they did not intend for this to occur but they need to understand the consequences of their actions and that those consequences involve people safety and that is our number one priority.”

He said the motivation behind the alleged attack was still unclear.

He said investigators were scouring CCTV to piece together a clear vision of what had happened and who was involved.

Numerous stores, including Woolworths and Rebel Sport, immediately shuttered their doors on the alert to keep shoppers safe.

One shopper, writing to social media, said the scene turned into “absolute bedlam” after the alert sounded.

“The alert was so quiet and took until the 3rd one to realise,” she said.

“We were in the movies with the two kids and it wasn’t until the third one she said weapon David Jones and so shook up.

“We ran out the fire escape as one of the first from the whole cinemas and were left to find an escape. Just opening doors to find which one gets to the carport.”

Chloe Andrews posted to social media from inside a locked up Kmart stockroom.

“I came to Marion to buy a new bin, and it’s ended with myself and like 200 other people in Kmart’s stockroom as there is someone armed with a weapon in Marion,” she said.

“So anyone thinking of heading this way … just don’t. I’m petrified”.

The last shoppers and retailers were evacuating around 6pm on Sunday.

WESTFIELD TO REOPEN MONDAY

The shopping centre is owned by Scentre Group, the same company that runs Westfield Bondi, the scene of a horrific mass murder event in April.

In a statement, the company said the centre would remain closed on Sunday, but would reopen for trade on Monday.

“The safety of our customers, business partners and people is our highest priority,” a Westfield Marion spokesman said.

“Our team have been providing their full support to SA Police this afternoon who attended an incident at Westfield Marion. For a brief period SA Police were in full control of the site.

“SA Police have since advised it is safe for customers to leave the centre.

“We are not aware of any injuries. Any inquiries at this stage should be directed to SA Police.

“Please note, Westfield Marion closed at 5pm today, in line with normal trading hours, and will re-open for trade as normal tomorrow.”

Westfield Marion is the largest shopping centre in South Australia, located about 15km from the Adelaide CBD in the city’s southern suburbs.