Panicked messages have emerged from terrified customers inside a busy shopping centre moments after it was plunged into lockdown.
Police swarmed Northland Shopping Centre in Melbourne‘s north on Sunday afternoon after a brawl in an outdoor food court broke out between two rival groups of up to 10 males, some allegedly armed with machetes.
One shopper told Nine News they’d seen a wounded male with a ‘big machete still in his stomach’.
Another recalled hurrying an injured teenager to help.
‘We rushed the kid (who had severe upper body wounds) over to the Gelatissimo – two girls looked after him very well – it was pretty gory,’ he said.
Terrified shoppers were forced to run for their lives from the centre as others sought refuge in shuttered stores, including Kmart, Myer and Smiggle.
Jacqueline Felgate, a 3AW journalist, shared a series of frantic messages received from those inside locked inside stores.
‘A gang of people with machetes at Northland! We are locked in the back of a store,’ one wrote.
A Melbourne shopping centre was plunged into lockdown on Sunday after a wild brawl involving machetes broke out
Emergency services were called to Northland Shopping Centre, north Melbourne, shortly after at 2.30pm on Sunday
Messages from those inside the shopping centre showed customers were frightened and confused
‘No update from centre management if they are still here or not. Unsure if anyone is hurt.
‘We are safe where we are. Currently in a locked store room with four other people.
‘Unsure about anyone else in the centre at this point.’
Another wrote: ‘There are people running around Northland with knives. All stores’ shutters are down, my mum is in Best and Less. Scary!
‘Not sure of what’s happening but hope it’s not another Bondi situation.’
The sight of blood and crowds rushing for shopping centre exits was likely reminded many witnesses of the Bondi Junction mass stabbing.
On April 13, 2024, crazed knifeman Joel Cauchi stabbed six people to death and injured another 12, including a nine-month-old girl, at Westfield Bondi Junction.
The horrific attack only ended when NSW Police Inspector Amy Scott shot Cauchi.
Footage showed locked down customers fleeing the shopping centre after they were given the all clear to leave
Footage showed customers running from the commotion as emergency services searched the centre
One shopper at Northland on Sunday described scenes of ‘lots of commotion and panic and people running’.
‘Police have arrived and are telling everyone to stay inside,’ they told Felgate.
‘There are mentions of someone with a knife.
‘We were at the hairdresser and just sat down to give my one-year-old a haircut, it is terrifying.’
Others commended the swift response from retail staff to keep shoppers safe amid the terrifying chaos.
‘There was confusion and little communication from centre management at the time of the initial incident however a huge shout out to the retailers for ensuring all customers were ushered safely into their stores, out of harms way,’ they wrote.
‘This was done with little panic and very orderly.
‘Despite this experience being quite surreal and eerie I must commend the young retail staff for stepping up.’
Other customers hid from the chaos in locked storerooms (pictured, customers in Myer)
Footage has also emerged of locked down shoppers, including young families fleeing the shopping centre in droves after they were given the all clear to leave.
One witness told 7News the incident ‘reminded her of what happened in Bondi, seeing everyone run and seeing the machete how big it was as well’.
‘There was some blood on the floor and there were just people crying, including kids as well, so everyone was pretty shaken up,’ she said.
Two males, including a 15-year-old boy, have since been arrested while a man aged in his 20s suffering upper body injuries was rushed to Royal Melbourne Hospital in a serious but stable condition.
Victoria Police Superintendent Kelly Lawson said the incident is believed to be ‘retaliation’ between ‘two rival gangs’.
‘I want to reassure the community that this was not just some random thing that happened; it was a pre-organised gang meet-up where that affray has taken place,’ she said.
‘It would have been absolutely frightening to witness what [the public] saw today, on a Sunday afternoon.
‘Parents, with their children … absolutely frightening.’
Shoppers in locked stores recalled seeing ‘traumatising’ scenes when they were finally able to leave the centre
Investigators believed an incident on Saturday triggered the shopping centre ‘meet-up’ between the two gangs, who were already on the ‘radar’ of police.
Superintendent Lawson said the remaining gang members were yet to be identified.
‘We will know who these people are and it will not take very long to arrest them,’ she said.
One customer Jason, told Daily Mail Australia he had been shopping when ‘people started running and all the shops locked their doors’.
‘We stayed inside Kmart for about an hour before they finally let everyone leave.’
Other frightened shoppers took to social media to recount their experience.
‘The world is mad. Just got home from Northland! Was locked in a store room in Myer, staff were fantastic. Still shaken. Hope injured will be okay,’ one wrote.
Another added: ‘Some guys with machetes apparently. We just arrived and everyone was running out telling us to run,’ one said.
Police believe the incident was a ‘targeted’ attack between ‘rival gangs’
A third reported: ‘My daughter is currently locked in Smiggle and called me saying someone running around with knives.
A fourth added: ‘My friends are in a shop calming the staff down. They heard all the shouting and went into the nearest shop and got the staff to lock the doors.’
Shoppers in locked stores recalled seeing ‘traumatising’ scenes when they were finally able to leave the centre.
‘By the time we got out it was all police taped, there was paper towel covered in blood all over the floor, there were (paramedics), helicopters and about 70 police officers,’ one woman wrote.
‘As we were walking out there was a young guy in handcuffs. Fair to say my kids are a little traumatised!’
Anyone who witnessed the incident, has CCTV, dashcam footage or any other information that could assist police is urged to contact Crime Stoppers.
