Social media prank may have been behind terrifying incident at shopping centre
Social media stunts can often provide instant fame for teenagers – but they can also cause instant danger.
Police are checking whether a social media prank was behind Wednesday night’s dramatic gun arrest at Chatswood’s Westfield shopping centre in Sydney.
Five teenagers dressed in black risked being shot when they were caught with what appeared to be automatic pistols.
The suspects were arrested at gunpoint on the floor of the shopping centre.
The guns were replicas, the type found in toy stores.
It happened at about 6.30pm on Wednesday night, with shoppers calling police after spotting the teens pointing the fake guns at each other.
“Suddenly we hear a lot of yelling – ‘get down on the ground! Put the gun away’, all that stuff,” witness Kerry Liu said.
The teenagers quickly complied.
“They were a little bit shocked and scared,” witness Kenneth Lee said.
Four of the culprits were 17 and one was 18.
“I’ll be honest, a lot of people thought it was some sort of terrorist attack or something going on,” witness Sean Brown said.
Toy gun or not, if you pretend it’s a real firearm, and people are convinced it is, you can be prosecuted, or worse – you could end up being shot by police.
Chatswood Police acting superintendent Mark Pluss described the prank as “foolhardy in the extreme.”
Police are investigating whether the teens were shooting a video for Instagram or Snapchat.
The four 17-year-olds will be dealt with under the Young Offenders Act, which means they will avoid going to court and most likely receive cautions.
The 18-year-old has been charged with offensive behaviour in a public place and has been bailed to face Hornsby Court on February 27.
