Fight breaks out in Woolworths over toilet paper
A fight has broken out at a Woolworths store in Sydney after a shopper tried to hoard multiple packets of toilet paper.
The altercation took place Saturday morning at the Chullora Woolworths in western Sydney, police confirmed to Yahoo News Australia.
Multiple videos of the fight were posted to social media this morning, showing a mother and daughter fighting a third woman who wanted a pack of toilet paper.
Despite Woolworths putting a limit of four packs per shop, the mother and daughter had filled their trolley to the brim with toilet paper.
In the footage, the three women can be seen throwing punches and pulling hair while crashing into the shelves in the supermarket aisle amid loud screams.
Onlookers can be heard yelling and screaming with one person shouting “that’s enough!”.
“Are you f***ing joking?” the woman screams at the mother. “I just want one.”
After the fight was broken up, a Woolworths worker can be heard telling the shopper that it is unfair for her to try and buy all the toilet paper.
“Think about what you’re doing, it’s unfair. You need to stop,” the worker says. “There is a limit and there are other people.”
As the women are separated, the store manager can be seen calling the police.
“I need everyone to back off right now,” he says. “You need to get off this trolley now.”
One video online appears to be taken by someone familiar with staff at the store, who implores the manager to call the police.
Calls to the Chullora Woolworths have gone unanswered.
Police confirmed to Yahoo News Australia that officers were called out to the Woolworths shortly after 7am this morning.
“Officers from Bankstown Area Command attended a Chulorra supermarket after reports a 49-year-old woman had been assaulted,” a police spokesperson said.
“No arrests have been made.”
Videos of the ugly scene have been shared widely on social media.
“Chullora Woolworths - my local Woolworths,” one person wrote alongside the video.
“The lady in the blue pants only wanted 1 pack, the other lady wanted a trolleys worth of it.”
Social media users widely condemned the women and were largely critical of the panic buying that has spread throughout Australia in recent days over coronavirus quarantine fears.
“This is absolutely ridiculous. People are going hysterical for no reason. I’m glad the manager took the whole trolley off that stupid woman,” commented one Facebook user.
On Saturday, the NSW Health Minister Brad Hazzard urged the public to stop bulk buying toilet paper.
“Please stop,” he wrote online.
“Calm common sense would tell us if some individuals were not buying excessive numbers of toilet rolls... there would be no problem. Don’t make it difficult for the vulnerable, elderly, people with disabilities to find basic necessities.”
Violence will not be tolerated, police warn
In a statement Saturday afternoon, police said they were still making inquiries into the incident and are appealing for public assistance to identify two of the women involved.
Bankstown Police Area Command Duty Officer, Acting Inspector Andrew New, said that supplies are constantly being replenished and there is no need to panic.
“Violence will not be tolerated, and anyone involved in this behaviour may be committing an offence and find themselves in court,” he said.
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