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Woolworths staff 'punched in face', customers pelted with rocks in violent attack

Woolworths customers have been pelted with rocks in a shocking attack at a store in Darwin city that saw staff members reportedly punched in the face and a little girl narrowly escape injury.

One shopper took to Facebook to share his terrifying experience, explaining how a simple trip to buy dog food quickly escalated into violent and chaotic scenes.

The man claims he saw three young men “smashing windows” and kicking cars and scooters on Monday afternoon in Darwin’s CBD.

“They threatened to bash and stab me because I looked at them,” he wrote.

“Once I stood my ground and they took off. I thought it was over so I walked inside to do my shopping.

“I heard a noise and they had come back with a s**tload of rocks!”

A Woolworths store in Darwin city was pelted with rocks, leaving customers with welts.
Left: One of the rocks thrown at the Woolworths store. Right: A welt on one person's back after being hit with a stone. Source: Facebook

He said the men were hurling the rocks at “everyone and anything”, and even targeting him by lobbing stones at the back left corner of the store where he had been looking at the meat.

“You could only imagine how many people were at risk of getting hit by rocks in that area,” he said.

To protect customers and staff from injury, the store’s doors were closed - only being opened to drag people from the car park inside to safety.

The man said he noticed a little girl who had become separated from her parents and was dangerously close to the rocks that were being launched into the store’s windows.

He grabbed her and pulled her inside the centre after a rock “the size of his fist” missed her head “by less than a foot”.

“If that rock hit her she would have been in a very bad condition,” the man wrote.

“The image keeps playing over and over in my head! I honestly don’t think she would’ve survived.”

Windows in front of Woolworths were smashed, and cars in the car park were also damaged.
The store's window was smashed, and vehicles in the car park were also damaged in the attack. Source: Facebook

Throughout the entire ordeal, the man said he was only hit in the back by one rock.

He said others had also been hit and claimed several Woolworths staff members were punched in the face.

A Woolworths spokesperson confirmed the incident to Yahoo News Australia, though did not detail any injuries that occurred.

“We can confirm there was an incident outside the Darwin City Woolworths store this afternoon,” the spokesperson said in a statement.

“The safety of our team and customers are of critical importance to us and we are supporting the Police in their investigations into this incident.”

Yahoo News Australia has contacted the Northern Territory Police for comment.

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